Forestgate £20m heroin stash uncovered

Heroin worth £20m has been found hidden in a Forestgate house. I never imagined there was so much going on in Forestgate!

Police say they got a tip-off that the sparesly decorated three-bedroom property in Meath Road, Forestgate, was being used as a safehouse for class A drugs.

Inside the house, officers found four brown cardboard boxes stacked on top of a single bed in one of the side bedrooms. Inside each of the boxes was approximately 140-160 envelopes stashed with a quantity of heroin.

It is believed these were all packaged ready for distribution. In total, it is estimated that over 150 kilos of high-grade heroin was seized, with an estimated street value of £20 million pounds.

DI Stephenson from the Met's Central Task Force East said, "This is one of the most significant drugs seizures by the Met this year, and has seriously disrupted a major criminal network planning to flood London with heroin for the Christmas period.”

6500 people needed to make Christmas special

Local charity Crisis is looking for volunteers to help give homeless people an unforgetable week this month.

Last year 6500 volunteers helped serve the homeless hot meals, and get medical treatment and blankets, and a wide range of essential services that they often miss out on. For the past 37 years, Crisis Christmas has also helped alleviate the loneliness and depresion some of them go through especially during Christmas time.

The organisation will open Christmas Centres across London from 23 – 30 December.

For more information contact Crisis on Tel: 020 7426 3874 or email: volunteering@crisis.org.uk

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And talking about Christmas cheer, I was at the shopping mall in Barking recently and one floor up from the massive Christmas tree there, I cought these three fellas (pictured) sending it off. Aren’t they sweet?

What does the PBR mean for East London?

You may have seen and heard a lot about the PBR in the news today?

The pre-Budget report is the government’s chance to explain to us what the Budget next year will look like.

Just last week it was reported that families in East London have the highest debt.

A survey, conducted by Callcredit found that the E1 to E17 postcodes are the most debt-heavy in the country; additionally, places like Tower Hamlets are one of the most deprived in the country, with high unemployment rates and many families on benefits.

Are there any goodies in the PBR for East London? You be the judge:

The price of commodities in shops is likely to go down, with a cut in VAT from 17.5% to 15%. The government also plans to get poor families to pay less tax. For example, it has in place changes to income tax that will see people who earn £10,000 save about £118.

Pension credit will rise in April from £124 to £130 a week for individuals and from £189 to £198 for couples.

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MISSING FAMILY SAFE AND WELL ... IN GERMANY

Good news from the Northumbria Police today is that Missing mother Natalie Bracht and her five daughters have been found. The family is safe and well in Munich, Germany.

As reported in last week’s blog, Natalie left her home in Sunderland, and was reported to have been spotted in Shoreditch.

Concern for mother and missing girls

A family is being sought by the police after they were reported as missing.

The mother and her five daughters left Sunderland in May and are believed to have come to London before moving elsewhere.

The Hackney Gazette says the family (pictured) were in Shoreditch, Hackney, in June.

Mick McCracken of Sunderland City Council, said: "They appear to have been moving around the country without any means of support, we don't know whether the girls have been at school or if they have any unmet medical or other needs. We all want to know that [they] are safe and well."

If you’ve spotted this family, please call the Missing People charity on 0500 700 700or the police on 0800 555 111.

Teenager slain on Ilford High Street

Only a few weeks ago I mentioned that Ilford is becoming less safe (see Mon 13.10.08).

For now just walking on the High Road might cause some to shudder, such as the friends of the teenager Nabil Bakurally (19) who was stabbed to death there this weekend.

Nabil (pictured) is the 28th teenager to have died in a violent incidence in London this year. The Evening Standard says he was killed in a suspected row with a group of rival Asian men in the area, adding that that tensions between Mauritian and Indian teenagers in the area have been high for weeks and Nabil may have inadvertently been drawn into the feud.

If this is true, are these particular Indian v Mauritian ‘gang’ problems known to the police and what is the Asian community in Ilford doing to diffuse them?

Why wait for someone to be murdered for the problem to be brought to the surface?

A Barking meltdown

Those people in Barking and Dagenham who made their way to this year’s Molten Festival were enthralled this weekend by the fireworks display. The annual celebration also includes music, art and other outdoor activities.

West Ham fans and the East end

Last night I dashed off to a shop in Upton Park only to find it was closed. As ususal, the traffic on Green Street was something else. The many West Ham fans who spilled onto the narrow pavement didn’t help matters.

But I can’t complain … West Ham is very much a part of East London, as seen on this clip above made by a fan.