"How Ruthless Cartels Are Transforming a Historic UK Town into a Drug Gateway: Addicts Sleeping in Burned Tents Risking Their Lives"

IN a quiet park behind the local library, a young woman shuffles back to a burnt-out tent and the sofa she now sleeps on – homeless thanks to a crippling addiction to the horse tranquilizer drug ketamine.

It is a tragic and perhaps unexpected sight in a pretty, historic market town that has increasingly found itself at the mercy of .

A young homeless woman, sat next to a burnt-out tent, says Ketamine was her downfallCredit: Wayne Perry A homeless man known locally as Bob suspects a ‘bad batch’ of drugs or ‘greed’ may be behind hospitalisationsCredit: Wayne Perry This historic town is being used as a hub for county lines gang serving drugs to DevonCredit: Wayne Perry

Boasting a rich tapestry of history, culture and independent shops, Barnstaple has long been a pillar of North Devon’s tourism industry, which attracts up to six million visitors each year.

However, like , it is fighting a grueling battle against drug lords using it as a ‘hub’ to flood the region with illicit substances.

This chilling juxtaposition has become evident over the past year, with police warning residents of Barnstaple and the wider area to look for clues of ‘cuckooing’ – a practice that sees dealers taking over the houses of vulnerable residents and using them as a base for local criminal activity.

Meanwhile, just last week, North Devon Hospital treated two people who were admitted having taken an unknown illegal substance.

Big Issue seller Tony Flynn, 68, has witnessed first-hand the effect of drugs in the picturesque town.

The Sun spoke to him as he sold his magazines on the town’s main shopping street, where he has been for 10 years.

He said: “County lines have been operating in this area for years, and over the years, I’ve seen a lot of people sitting on the street here and begging for money for drugs, but less now they’ve stopped people begging here.

“The issue of county lines flooding the area with drugs and cuckooing the vulnerable is a real concern because addicts will use all their money towards funding their addiction, and every now and again there will be a bad batch.

“I’ve seen loads of drug deals take place on this street. A Big Issue vendor died and someone in Bideford died too.

“You don’t know what these drugs contain, it could be Fentanyl, it could be rat poison, and that’s the risks addicts are taking. It’s very sad to see.”

Another rough sleeper, a man who the locals call Bob, lives with his dog in a tent at the back of the local Marks & Spencer.

He admitted he was ‘familiar’ with the drugs world and told us: “I think the people in hospital had too much, they got too greedy.

“I’ve heard people say maybe it was a bad batch, but that’s never happened to me.”

Locals are concerned about the cost of human lives and the bigger, shadowy network formed by county lines gangs.

Student Orlando Samuels, 18, said: “It’s not so much the drugs that worry me, I’m more concerned with the human trafficking element that county lines are part of and the way they exploit vulnerable people.

“There needs to be more education for young people about the risks of becoming involved.”

Fellow student Mia Powell said: “It is scary to know county lines operate locally, especially when, like me, you have a younger sibling.

“I think a lot more should be done in school about teaching the dangers, online safety in schools doesn’t teach enough about the dangers of being groomed online by these types of criminals.

“So many kids fall into crime these days. In Ilfracombe where I live it’s a small gang of teenagers who cause most of the trouble.

“Sadly, with county lines operating in this area, it’s usually the children who are from more troubled backgrounds who seem more susceptible to getting involved in crime.”

When Neil Warren was arrested cops found £250k worth of cocaine in his carCredit: Devon & Cornwall Police Christopher Harper (front) and Warren (rear) entering a Premier Inn where a drug parcel was exchangedCredit: Devon & Cornwall Police Police found 3kg of Class A drugs in a bag and records linked to the drug sales (left)Credit: Devon & Cornwall Police Six drug dealers were arrested as part of Operation Haku for flooding Barnstaple with £4m-worth of Class A drugsCredit: Devon & Cornwall Police

County lines gangs, so-called after the phone lines they use to ship drugs across county borders, target children usually between 14-17 to peddle drugs for them.

But, as The Sun revealed last week, they can be .

They are often targeted because they come from deprived backgrounds, or have difficult family circumstances.

Sometimes the minors become victims of human trafficking and are forced to travel and move far away from home and kept in ‘trap houses’ – where drugs are dealt.

Other are forced to stay in homes of vulnerable people that have been taken over by drug barons or dealers as a base to deal or store drugs, paraphernalia or weapons.

That latter form of exploitation is known as ‘cuckooing’ – the name derived from how cuckoos push other birds out of their nests to claim it for themselves.

Devon and Cornwall Police are well aware of the toll county lines gangs from places including Liverpool and Manchester are having on Barnstaple and .

Most recently a six-strong gang of county lines dealers were this year sentenced for their crimes.

Gang leader Stephen Reid was one of two organisers of a cross-country drug network that saw Barnstaple flooded with £4million-worth of Class A drug cocaine, which was then passed to street dealers.

In an investigation called Operation Haku, cops estimated the group, headed by Liverpool-based Reid, 52, and accomplice Christopher Harper, 46, from Yorkshire, moved around £4million of the drug to the south-west across 17 trips between July and December 2024.

They have all now been jailed after pleading guilty to a string of drugs offences.

A community safety team patrols the high streetCredit: Wayne Perry Big Issue seller Tony Flynn says he has seen drugs dealt openly in the streetsCredit: Wayne Perry A homeless man walks the streetsCredit: Wayne Perry

Reid was sentenced to seven years five months when he appeared in court this month.

Other gang members Harper, of Goole, and gang ‘regional manager’ Paige Kightley, from Lace Avenue, Bideford, were sentenced on March 13 to 10 years and five months, and five years and seven months respectively for their involvement in supplying Class As.

Neil Warren, of High Street, Ilfracombe, was sentenced in March 2025 to four years for being concerned in the supply of Class A and B drugs.

Kightley was the local link to Barnstaple based-supplier, Karl Aldridge, 38, who received the cocaine and distributed it on the streets of North Devon.

Aldridge and Ezra Walker were sentenced to five years and four months in January when they appeared at Exeter Crown Court.

Chief Inspector for local policing in North and West Devon Mandy Marsh told The Sun: “We encourage the public to come forward and report information about suspected drug dealing.

“Reports from our community are vital in helping us plan our activity to disrupt the supply of drugs, reduce anti-social behaviour associated with drug dealing, and to protect vulnerable people who are exploited and drawn into the supply of illegal drugs, perhaps through county lines or by being cuckooed in their own homes which are then used as a base for illegal drug supply.

“Information about the signs of county lines exploitation or cuckooing can be found on our website, and we support campaigns throughout the year which raise awareness of these criminal activities.

“People can report directly to us by calling 101 or through our website, or 100% anonymously through the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online.”

“Our officers carry out planned activity such as warrants, closure orders, targeted operations and investigations year round to put offenders before the courts, and also undertake safeguarding activity.

“Devon & Cornwall Police also takes part in periodic intensified activity on drug crime, such as the recent Operation Scorpion from 2 – 9 March where we worked with four other police forces across the south west.

“In Devon and Cornwall 17 people were safeguarded and 14 cuckooed addresses were visited, along with arrests and seizures of drugs, cash and weapons.

“Regarding the recent hospitalisation of two heroin users, we are pleased to note that they have made full recoveries.

“The criminal supply of controlled drugs happens in an unregulated marketplace which is devoid of any form of effective quality control. This makes consuming controlled drugs fraught with danger, as is highlighted by these cases.”