High Street mini-marts selling cocaine, cannabis and prescription drugs, BBC secret filming reveals

High Street mini-marts selling cocaine, cannabis and prescription drugs, BBC secret filming reveals13 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleEd Thomas,UK editor,Patrick ClahaneandRebecca WearnWatch: BBC confronts dealer after going undercover at High Street mini-mart selling drugsCocaine, cannabis, laughing gas and prescription pills are being offered for sale in mini-marts on UK High Streets, a BBC investigation can reveal.They were readily offered to our undercover researchers who secretly filmed in shops across four neighbouring West Midlands towns.One street we visited was described as "lawless" by an anonymous law enforcement source.Just a few miles away, in a town where we found illegal drugs being sold in shops, legitimate businesses told us they had been intimidated by gangs - and witnessed knife and gun violence.Across the country, shopfronts are being exploited by organised criminal gangs that have gained a foothold pushing illegal drugs, say both the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI).We analysed dozens of recent local news reports as part of our ongoing investigation into criminal activity on UK High Streets. From Bideford in Devon, to Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, to Belfast in Northern Ireland - we found that drugs, including crystal meth and heroin, had been found in more than 70 shops and linked premises.Responding to our findings in the West Midlands and more widely, a senior Labour MP is now calling on the government to act urgently. "We can't restore our High Streets unless we take out the cancer of organised crime," says Liam Byrne, chair of the Business and Trade Committee.The government is working with police, the NCA and Trading Standards to "take the strongest possible action against these criminal businesses", a spokesperson for the Home Office said. West Midlands Police said it would always work with partners "to act on complaints about illegal drugs s...