Drug-dealing thugs run riot

12:00am Friday 24th August 2001

Millwall: Drug-dealing football thugs are thriving at Millwall while other local clubs are stamping out violence, a report has revealed.

In the Home Office's club-by-club annual review of the problem, the New Den team came out on top for arrests in its division, as crime experts suggest problems are increasingly caused by organised criminals from outside the game.

The findings have provoked a pledge of action from club officials, who are determined to root out the hooligans responsible for more than 15 per cent of all Second Division violence last season.

Millwall spokesman Ken Chapman said: “We have a zero tolerance attitude towards violence in the club and last year arrests were significantly down.

“There is a culture and a history at Millwall which won't change overnight. We are banning troublemakers from the ground indefinitely, but we can't control organised violence on the streets of Lewisham.”

Figures also show Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace led the way in their divisions with one per cent of the total number of offences.

Report authors at the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), which specialises in crimes, ranging from money-laundering to paedophilia, believe travelling supporters offer a wealth of opportunity for drug-dealers.

Head of Specialist Intelligence Brian Drew said: “There's a nasty, ugly and anti-social element in society which clings parasitically to football and just won't give up.

“But like other infections, new strains of football hooliganism are developing which are clever, resilient and increasingly resistant.”

Mr Drew added: “As for the genuine supporters, we would ask you to distance yourselves from those criminal elements which continue to give your clubs and country a bad name. If you know who these criminals are, let us know.

“It is time for the vast majority of decent, football-loving fans to stand up and distance themselves from the small but criminal minority who shame the good names of the clubs and the country they claim to support.”

Anyone with any information should call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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