Chasing the Dragons
In the early 1980s, drug abuse on Merseyside had reached a crisis point. Birkenhead had rapidly become known as Smack City by the tabloid press. The Wirral Crime Squad, led by Inspector Mike Mulloy, was formed to tackle the dealers head on and smash the drug rings.

The Sun February 1998. TOP COP TELLS OF FIVE YEAR CAMPAIGN. How we jailed 2,300 dealers in a crusade against drugs. Mike Mulloy is the cop who beat the drug barons. In a four year campaign he jailed 2,300 dealers on Merseyside. Mike, 55, has written a book about his experiences. Here the former Chief Inspector tells how Britain can beat the evil of drugs. The war on drugs became a crusade for me when I saw what this evil trade did to families - babies born addicted to heroin. At that time dealers were telling teenagers that if they smoked it they wouldnt become addicted. Of course that was rubbish.

The most chilling memory for me is the pretty 17 year old girl I found lying dead from an overdose. The girl is buried in the same graveyard as my own father. Each time I go to see him I see her grave and know the battle must not let up. We used a forced entry policy which meant knocking down dealers doors with sledgehammers to stop them flushing away the drugs. There were often children playing amongst the syringes in the rooms. On one raid six of us found 48 dealers and addicts. That was a bit hairy, but we managed and walked them all down to the police station. I never knew when I was coming home. It was a 24 hour job. I worried about my wife, Carol, being at home for so long on her own.

We still get veiled death threats now. I wish Id had children, but in a way at least I didnt have to worry about them. The wife of one of our officers was told to tell her husband to back off from his investigations as she picked up the kids from school. The drugs problem is huge and it won;t go away. But if we are serious about tackling it then we CAN make a difference. Daily Telegraph 28TH January 1998.
MY CRUSADE TO BEAT THE DRUG DEALERS.