British cities’ drug problems mirror Brazil, says UN

Sections of British cities are becoming no-go areas where drugs gangs are effectively in control, mirroring cities in Brazil and Mexico, a United Nations drugs chief warned.

Hamid Ghodse, president of the UN’s International Narcotics Control Board, said there was “a vicious cycle of social exclusion and drugs problems and fractured communities” in cities such as Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester.

The development of “no-go areas” was being fuelled by threats such as social inequality, migration and celebrities normalising drug abuse, he warned.