How lethal £1 ‘jungle pills' that cause monkey hallucinations have ravaged UK town where ‘zombies' pass out in bus lanes
DEADLY HIT How lethal £1 'jungle pills' that cause monkey hallucinations have ravaged UK town where 'zombies' pass out in bus lanes
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WITHIN minutes of gulping down a mystery pill he'd bought for a quid after a heavy night of drinking, Bryan Heslop blacked out.
The former lifeguard, 63, was later found by his nephew, unable to walk or talk, and when he regained consciousness he began hallucinating monkeys.
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Drug users in a 'zombie-like' stupor are seen on the streets of Gateshead
Credit: NNP
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Bryan Heslop had a terrifying experience after taking a £1 pill
Credit: NNP
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A woman in Gateshead curled over in a ball after taking drugs
Credit: NNP
Bryan was one of the lucky ones. He believes the cheap drug was part of a terrifying new wave of 'Russian roulette' pills that are flooding the streets of Gateshead, in Tyne and Wear.
Just last month Northumbria Police issued a warning after a suspected dangerous batch of drugs was believed to be behind the deaths of five people within 24 hours.
It followed the passing of a man in his 40s from Harlow Green - close to the famous Angel of the North - and four others, who suffered cardiac arrests.
Five men and two women have been arrested and remain under investigation in relation to the supply of the substances.
Now worried locals tell The Sun their once-proud northern town is now 'riddled to bits" with drugs, which some fear are up to triple the normal strength and 'made in jungles', not labs.
It's led to scenes of homeless addicts stumbling around in zombie-like stupors, putting people off visiting the high street.
Bryan believes the mystery drugs are "blues", which is slang for the opiod painkiller oxycodone, or other unknown drugs, which can be lethal if overdosed.
Recalling his 'moment of stupidity', he said: 'All I can remember was boom, lights out.
"My nephew came from Newcastle to look for me. He found me and picked me up but I couldn't even walk or talk.
"I'm an old man, so I shouldn't have taken it, but when you're drunk, you will take anything.
The northern town that's become flooded with deadly black market pills from China
"I was hallucinating the next day. I woke up and I thought there was a monkey in my bed.
"It is Russian roulette sometimes with what goes around. There have been loads of people dying around here because of dodgy drugs.
"Ten of my friends have, and another guy I was speaking to had another ten, so we're talking about 20 people - the youngest I lost was 23 years old.
"These drugs come piling in from abroad. This place is riddled to bits with drugs.
"I would never normally take something on the street that's handed and the penny should have dropped when the tablet only cost £1 - that is too cheap.
"Then the dealer told me £2 instead and that's when I necked it. I can't remember anything after that. I didn't have a clue what was inside it."
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This woman, believed to be under the influence of drugs, was later spoken to by police
Credit: NNP
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Locals say their high street is crumbling
Credit: NNP
Brian added: "In Gateshead people will gather around the centre asking if I want to buy this or that.
"Why are they pushing it when they know it could be killer batches? It happens every single day. This centre is the main pitch, near to the CCTV cameras."
Another man, who wished to remain anonymous, said the issue of "dodgy" drugs arises when dealers in other countries don't weigh them properly.
He explained: "It's a problem in Gateshead, but it's not just here. It's Newcastle, it's Whitley Bay and places like that.
They aren't made inside proper labs. They're made in jungles and they come across just like your dodgy cigarettes
Gateshead local
"In Gateshead I was there when my mate went over. He was a very good friend of mine and it was horrible. I have lost about four or five people since Christmas.
"If you want to know why there are bad batches going around, it's because you don't know what's inside the drugs.
"They aren't made inside proper labs. They're made in jungles and they come across just like your dodgy cigarettes.
"If you get a batch of tablets, the box might say it's 30 milligrams, but inside you could get one that's just 10mg, or one that has 100mg. They don't get weighed properly."
£120million drugs bust
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Drug baron Peter Lamb was jailed for 17 years
Credit: NCA
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He smuggled £120million worth of cocaine inside rolls of artificial grass
Credit: NCA
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Mum Lisa Birnie gets 'anxious' walking around the town centre now due to the drug problem
Credit: NNP
For locals born and bred in the town, the issue is stark and rotting the community to its core.
A dark underworld of drug dealers is plaguing Gateshead - including baron Peter Lamb, 66, jailed last week for smuggling £120million of cocaine hidden in rolls of artificial grass.
The National Crime Agency said he planned to 'flood UK streets with drugs' after receiving 20 deliveries of the Class A substance from the Netherlands, which he stashed in warehouses in Stockton-on-Tees and Newcastle.
The vile work of Lamb - who was sentenced to 17 years on June 27 - and other dealers has contributed to 77 drug-related deaths in Gateshead between 2020 and 2023.
That works out at 13.7 per 100,000 people losing their lives, more than double the national rate of 5.5, and the effects are clear to see in Gateshead.
At midday when The Sun visited this week, one inebriated woman was curled into a ball outside a shop, while another man was seen in a zombie-like state strewn across the curb by a bus stop.
A group of men congregated around the town's refurbished Trinity Square complex in full view of shoppers.
The development was installed in 2011 as part of a £150m regeneration which included a cinema, new shops and bars.
You get people sitting around here and they will search inside ash trays to see what they can get. It's definitely a different place to what I grew up in
Sean McGarrell
NHS worker Lisa Birnie, 50, said: "I don't like coming down to the centre anymore. I used to walk through it all the time but now it gives me anxiety.
"I would come on my own but you see people on drugs all of the time.
"It's not just drugs either, they drink on the seats around here. It's more so older people that you see on them.
"You get people in their twenties but it reaches people in their fifties and sixties. I wouldn't even take the kids to the cinema now, it's that bad around here."
Sean McGarrell, 47, said: "I hadn't heard of what happened at Harlow Green but [drug-taking] is a big issue in Gateshead.
"I see [users] off their faces walking around like zombies, that's what it's like during the day.
"You see them around Tesco and places around the centre when you turn a corner.
"I don't know specifically what they take but I imagine it's anything they can get their hands on.
"It's hard to know if there is enough help out there for them. I suppose it's up to them if they want to get it.
"You get people sitting around here and they will search inside ash trays to see what they can get. It's definitely a different place to what I grew up in."
'Diabolical situation'
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Sean McGarrell said seeing people 'off their faces walking around like zombies' is normal now in Gateshead
Credit: NNP
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Homeless Kevin Kent said drugs being sold on the street are getting worryingly stronger
Credit: NNP
Figures released by Gateshead Council revealed that drug use contributed to 19.7 deaths per 100,000 in 2021 - that's up by a whopping 339 per cent from 1990.
Homeless 42-year-old Kevin Kent sits around the corner perched in his sleeping bag while passersby offer him cash and food.
Kevin openly admits he is a crack cocaine addict and was hospitalised twice last week because of a bad batch of tablets.
He said: "It is an epidemic in Gateshead and has been for ten years. I love crack, it is a habit. You wish your next hit will get you that little bit higher.
"It's a diabolical situation. The drugs get stamped on before they get here, meaning they're contaminated
It is an epidemic in Gateshead and has been for ten years
Kevin Kent
"The less you pay, the more it's been stamped and therefore more dangerous. But these days it's mainly the tablets that are causing the problems.
"Lots of my friends have died because of dodgy drugs, but they don't get classed as 'dodgy' - instead, people say they took too much.
"I had some blues the other day which came from India and ended up in hospital, I didn't know what was inside them.
"Unless you grow the crop yourself, you don't know what you're taking, but that's the risk I take because I'm an addict.
"If you cut up cocaine you can tell its strength depending on its colour, but with tablets you can't."
Death-count rising
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Recovering addict Justin Collier is glad he no longer uses drugs
Credit: NNP
Justin Collier, a 54-year-old council worker, originally from Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, said: "Drugs is an issue in Gateshead but it's one that nobody wants to look at.
"It is a societal problem. We push them to one side and only look at ourselves - there is our normal life, and there's an underworld that most people don't know about.
"Years ago it used to be cocaine and crack, but now there's more things you can get your hands on online.
"I am in recovery myself and thank God I'm not addicted anymore. A lot of what they are taking is opioids, but what type of pain are they trying to kill?
"They are human beings and I sympathise with them, but I don't condone what they get up to."
Justin added: "There is always hope, and that's what you have to cling onto."
Gateshead Council's Director of Public Health, Alice Wiseman, said: "It's incredibly sad to hear about a life lost to drugs in our area.
"We know that far too many lives are lost to drugs in Gateshead every year.'
We know that far too many lives are lost to drugs in Gateshead every year
Alice Wiseman, Gateshead Council's Director of Public Health
She told us there have been 300 deaths by drugs in the 20 years to 2022 and the number of losses are quickly rising.
"Behind each number is a story of a life lost too soon, and of loved ones left behind, grappling with grief,' Alice said.
"Reducing the stigma around drugs in our society is the best way we can support people living with addiction to get the help they need.
"While the only way to avoid all risks is to not take any drugs which are not prescribed for you, people who use drugs can reduce the risk of harm by never using alone, avoiding mixing substances, including alcohol, and making sure to look out for any signs of an overdose – including loss of consciousness, shallow or absent breathing, and blue coloured lips or fingertips.'
GETTING HELP:
If you think that you have a drug addiction then please contact your GP.
You can also visit FRANK for honest information about drugs and to find local treatment services.
If you are having trouble finding the right help, call the FRANK drugs helpline on 03001236600
Or click here to visit the NHS website for more advice and support
Addressing drug users directly, she said 'you are not alone' and that 'help is always available', signposting them to The Recovery Partnership Gateshead.
A Northumbria Police spokesperson said the force is investigating a potential link between the death of the man in his 40s and four other cardiac arrests.
They said: "Given the similarities of these reports from the same area, it is important that we ensure this warning message is shared far and wide.
"If you are a drug user, or know anybody struggling with addiction, please be mindful of this message as we suspect this particular batch could have fatal consequences.
"Anyone with information is asked to get in touch by sending a DM [direct message] or use live chat and report forms on the Force's website."
For help, the Recovery Partnership Gateshead is a drug and alcohol recovery service with a main base on Jackson Street. The team are contactable weekdays between 9am and 5pm on 0191 594 782.
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