They did – successfully – but it took four of them to do so.

As the initial shock of the invasion wore off, Boyle’s mind kicked into gear. A number of possibilities were occurring to him: the police might be using drugs as a cover to search for something else. But why bother? They must know that he was too streetwise to keep anything incriminating in a kitchen drawer or under the floorboards. The Gallaghers. It had to be!! The Gallagher family from Glasgow’s Bridgeton had been rivals for years and had a substantial drugs empire throughout the West of Scotland. But the interests of the rival factions did not clash, and they had for some time tolerated each other in a state of perpetual stand-off. The Gallaghers knew Boyle did not do drugs. Why did they ask about Kevin? His son Kevin…drugs? He thought on.

‘Where the fuck is he?’

‘What was that?’, inquired the officer sitting opposite Hugh.

Boyle stared back malevolently. The man shifted uneasily in the armchair. The search, which would prove fruitless, continued.

The week before, a council of war was held chez Gallagher in Barassie Street, Bridgeton, another part of the East End. Frank Gallagher had invited selected business associates to attend. His invitations bore no RSVP. At his side was his son Charlie.

Just as the Boyles and their extended family dominated the Springfield area, the Gallaghers and their people controlled Bridgeton.

Gallagher Snr was a former bank robber. In former years he had made a lot of money from his trade. He had also served two lengthy terms of imprisonment and regarded this as an occupational hazard, adhering to the philosophy, ‘If you can’t do the time, don’t commit the crime’.

When the drug scene had got going in Glasgow, Frank had come to the conclusion that this was a much easier and less hazardous way to make money than running around banks with a sawn-off shotgun. He had good contacts in London from his blagging days. Most of his robberies had taken place south of the Border. (‘Never shit on your own nest’, was another of his favourite maxims.) With the assistance of gentlemen in the South, he established an effective network for the importation and distribution of every conceivable type of illegal drug.

The system for transporting the gear, as it was colloquially known, to Glasgow was simple and efficient. Couriers would drive to London and pick up innocent looking packages. They were paid £200 cash and were not told (they did not want to be told) what the package contained. They would do a maximum of three runs before they were replaced. There was no shortage of unemployed men desperate to make a bit of cash, no questions asked.