NERVOUSLY shifting his gaze left to right, Tom pulls his hood further down across his face.
Having grown and sold his own , the self-confessed dealer admits he’s since progressed to the harder stuff – and is now completely hooked.
Tom and Will speak to The Sun about farming cannabis and flogging it to drug dealers
A police raid in November 2022 saw officers seize drugs with an estimated street value of £20,000
Locals say the underground drugs trade has impacted the Callington community
“It was always weed, up until six months ago,” he tells The Sun.
“A friend was using crack cocaine, and I tried some. I’d never done it before, but I was hooked.
“This is not what I want for my life, but I’m addicted so I keep doing it. I know it could be laced with anything, like fentanyl, but when I do it, I don’t think about anything else; I just want to get high.”
It sounds like a typically tragic tale from a big city, but this is Callington – a tiny market town in with a population of just under 6,000 people.
Home to the infamous Ginsters pasties, it was once considered one of the safest places to live in the UK – but in recent years stories of drug-dealing, county lines gangs, anti-social behaviour, armed police raids and even murder have cast a dark shadow over the historical civil parish.
Ten years ago Callington’s almost non-existent crime rate meant its police station was an easy choice when budget cuts spelled the closure of many smaller units.
The old police station was closed and cops are now based at Gunnislake Woodland Centre.
In the last two years alone, Callington’s crime rate has increased from 32 in July 2023, to 60 in July this year.
Neighbouring seaside tourist spot Looe, 30 miles away, had 37 crimes in July 2023 which rose to 50 the same month this year, despite a similar sized population, plus tourists.
One of the more shocking cases saw two men jailed for murdering father-of-one Callum Hill, 22, on Kit Hill, just outside of Callington, in 2021.
Andrew Hatrey, 38, and Kristian Humphries, 31, arrived in two cars with an assortment of weapons and intended to cause Hill serious harm rather than killing him.
Hatrey was jailed for 26 years while Humphries was sentenced to 15 years.
Drugs are a prominent issue.
In July, three members of the same family from Callington were found to be running a “significant criminal enterprise” involving laundering just shy of £1million for a drug dealer, using their legitimate photocopy and printer cartridge business as a front.
Steven Izzard, 35, was sentenced to three years in prison, while his wife Georgina Izzard, 33, and father Nicholas Izzard, 68, were dealt two-year suspended sentences.
In 2022 police raids uncovered class A and B drugs with a street value of £20,000, as well as weapons and a large amount of cash.
‘Underworld of drugs’
Aliki Mamwa, originally from north London, was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in December 2018 for masterminding the transportation of crack cocaine and heroin to Cornwall from London
Heroin found at an address where Aliki Mamwa and his accomplice Dion Needs were both present
Dion Needs, then 20, from Wentworth Way in Saltash, was given three years in a young offenders’ institute
Steven Izzard, 35, was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in a ‘significant criminal enterprise’ involving laundering just shy of £1million for a drug dealer
Suspected drugs and cash seized during police raids in Callington
Ruthless county lines gangs are believed to have been targeting the area since 2017, preying on the young and vulnerable to deal and store drugs.
That year a gang took over the home of a vulnerable local addict to use it as a drug den – known as ‘cuckooing’ – with one of its leaders, then 25-year-old Aliki Mamwa, originally from north London, spending much of his time there.
He was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in December 2018 for masterminding the transportation of crack cocaine and heroin to Cornwall from London, along with Dion Needs, then 20, from Wentworth Way in Saltash, who was handed three years in a young offenders’ institute.
In September 2019 seven gang members were found guilty of running the ‘Billy line’, a sophisticated county lines operation in which thousands of pounds-worth of heroin and crack cocaine were shipped from to Cornwall.
Officers raided properties, seizing drugs, cash and knives, while one gang member brandished a machete before being arrested.
But according to two local dealers, an “underworld of drugs” still operates within the town.
Tom previously grew cannabis plants in his flat, claiming he made up to £200 a day from selling the drug in Callington, while also working at Ginsters.
“I went from a couple of cannabis plants to 70, after I was introduced to a bigger person up the chain,” he told The Sun on the rainy day we visited Callington.
“It’s very lucrative. I did that a couple of times for a couple of years, but had to shut it down because I felt the police were onto me.
“There were helicopters overhead all the time… I thought maybe they had heat sensors which would pick up on the lamps. It became too risky.”
I went from a couple of cannabis plants to 70, after I was introduced to a bigger person up the chain… it’s very lucrative
Tom
Meanwhile Will – who dabbled in magic mushrooms and weed as a younger man – was drawn into farming marijuana to feed his alcohol and drugs habit.
“I’ve been clean for over five years now,” he said. “I would grow a batch in my home and sell it for £30,000 to dealers, and there are plenty in this area.
“You can easily get hold of anything here, although it’s mainly run by one particular family.
“Cocaine, heroin, ketamine – there’s an underworld of drugs going on, even though it looks like it’s a sleepy town. If you know who to ask, it’s readily available.”
Another Callington local we spoke to, who did not wish to be named, claimed ketamine is a “growing trend” among local dealers.
“Crack cocaine is the widest used drug here. It’s not because of a lack of jobs, but the sheer addiction of it,” they said.
“Weed is seen as a ‘boring’ drug, and it’s easy money for the dealers. Ketamine is a growing trend here, but I think that goes for the rest of the country.
“The police arrested some county lines dealers, but they are still here, still shifting drugs to dealers in our town, but obviously being more cautious.”
Teen vandals
Local mum Zoe Love says Callington doesn’t feel safe at night time anymore
Last year the local council posted an urgent appeal for community assistance to help it deal with the town’s burgeoning wave of anti-social behaviour and vandalism
Meanwhile Callington locals say it’s had a knock-on effect on the community.
“You do hear of lots of drugs problems here, the smell of weed all over the town is like Callington Cologne,” mum-of-two Zoe Love, 31, who runs Love Glitz Nails, tells us.
“I’ve lived here for over 15 years, and I think it’s nice with everything we need, but it used to be better than it is now.
“Generally people are quite friendly, and the schools are good, the pubs always have something going on.
“But I don’t feel safe here at night time. It’s got a weird feeling about it – it feels a lot safer in the day than it does at night.”
You do hear of lots of drugs problems here, the smell of weed all over the town is like Callington Cologne
Zoe Love
Last year the local council posted an urgent appeal for community assistance to help it deal with the town’s burgeoning wave of anti-social behaviour and vandalism – an issue Zoe also highlights.
“The vandalism is quite bad, from flower beds being ruined, car wing mirrors being smashed off,” she says.
“Usually it’s 2, 3, or 4 in the morning. We’ve given CCTV to the police before.
“These kids are aged between 12-15 and vandalise things in the town and the park.
“I have had to put a fire out at the park before which was lit by a bunch of kids trying to make smores with an aerosol can.
“There’s nothing for them to do here. There’s a youth club, which is great, but it’s open once a week.
“When they leave there, they think ‘what do we do now?’
“The older kids hang out in the skate park, but because they’re there the younger kids are scared to go to the park.
“You can’t leave anything there, like a phone, or the older kids will get it and put it in the bin.”
‘Gone downhill’
Local shop worker Alex Clark says he’s had customers ‘bragging about how they got wasted’ on ketamine or cocaine
Alex Clark, 29, works in The Vapist and claims Callington “clearly has a drugs issue”.
“There’s a constant smell of cannabis in the streets all the time, and we have customers humbly bragging about how they got wasted on Ket or coke, or whatever, like it’s acceptable conversation,” he says.
“It seems like taking drugs is not even a taboo subject anymore.
“We used to sell grinders and cones (pre-rolled empty cigarette-papers), but we stopped because we attracted a certain type of customer, and they’d ask if we sold other stuff to go in them.
“We’re completely above board, so didn’t want to be associated with that.”
Some locals are hopeful the drugs problem has improved, but despair over the demise of the local high street – a common issue across Britain.
It seems like taking drugs is not even a taboo subject anymore
Alex Clark
Solicitor Vivian Carn, 79, says: “The town certainly used to have a reputation for drugs and for anti-social behaviour, but I don’t think it’s as bad as it used to be.
“I don’t hear so much about drugs, so I get the impression it’s less of a problem.
“The town has gone downhill because and all our banks.
“A new barber has opened where there was a jeweller’s shop, and we rejoice when we see another business open because it means fewer empty shops.
“Callington is a very down-to-earth town and has a great sense of community.”
The Sun has reached out to the town council for comment.
Decrease in number of weapon-related incidents and shoplifting
In a statement, Sector Inspector Greg Hodgkiss told The Sun: “Callington forms part of North Cornwall Police Sector which remains one of the safest places to live in the country.
“The policing patch for Callington covers a much greater geography than the town itself and includes Gunnislake, Calstock and all the villages in the rural area around it.
“The local Neighbourhood Policing Team have been carrying out a lot of targeted work in line with our local and force priorities. This includes targeting anti-social behaviour by seeking Criminal Behaviour Orders against individuals and closure orders against properties.
“We also have an ongoing campaign against shoplifting and so far, we have seen these reports decrease by a third.
“In the Callington patch we did see a slight increase in overall reported crime over the past year which includes a rise in the number of domestic related offences reported.
“Domestic incidents are a force priority with a lot of proactive work ongoing to highlight the signs and encourage reporting. They are often an under-reported crime and we want the public to have the confidence to come and report them to us either directly or via a third party.
“There has been a decrease in the number of weapon related incidents and shoplifting.
“Drug use and supply is something that is looked at within every community and I would encourage anyone who sees anything of concern to report it to us so that it can be recorded and investigated accordingly.
“Our Neighbourhood Policing Team run regular public surgeries across the area, so I’d encourage anyone with concerns to attend and speak to us or report information via our website or by calling 101. In an emergency, always call 999.”
Solicitor Vivian Carn says the town has gone downhill because it’s lost so many shops
Vivian said Callington is a very down-to-earth town and has a great sense of community
Armed police descended on Callington in 2019 following concerns about a man’s welfare, with witnesses reporting having seen officers with guns and riot shields 
