Schoolboy forced to hold cannabis stash
A 15-year-old school boy was forced to hide cannabis valued at £2,000 in his Falls Road home according to Sinn Féin's Fra McCann.
McCann said that the boy's parents found the drugs in their son's bedroom by accident and were horrified when they discovered he was hiding the stuff under threat from local drug peddlers.
According to McCann, the schoolboy's parents came to him for help because of Sinn Féin's work record on the drugs issue. ``The family also told me they were afraid to go to the RUC as they were worried they might try to coerce their son into becoming an informer and make a bad situation worse,'' said McCann.
``The schoolboy got caught up in the situation because he was Ôworking off a debt' to drugs dealers. The druggies sometimes give drugs to young people, saying they are free. Then they go after the money, knowing the kids can't pay up. It's then that they force the kids to hold drugs or force them to sell the stuff for them to pay off the debt.''
McCann approached Gerry McConville of the Falls Community Council's Drugs Awareness Unit and Sean Paul O'Hare of the Community Restorative Justice programme. The cannabis was disposed of in front of witnesses.
Said McConville: ``We are very happy to liaise with Sinn Féin on this issue. We realise that young people can very easily get caught up in a situation like this as they can be very vulnerable. We want youngsters to know that there are ways out and they don't have to dig deeper''.
Sean Paul O'Hare said: ``This exploitation of young people is absolutely vile and we in CRJ recognise the fear young people experience. We want to make it clear to young people that CRJ is about finding solutions to these problems.''
For further information contact The Falls Community Council's Drugs Awareness Unit on Belfast 028 90202030 or the Community Restorative Justice at 028 90301521.
Sophisticated spy equipment trained on West Belfast
Bird watchers last week stumbled on sophisticated British Army surveillance equipment buried deep into Belfast's Black Mountain.
The equipment which consisted of two high-resolution cameras powered by massive battery packs, was trained on homes in the Upper Andersonstown area of the city.
d according to the bird watchers who found the cameras on Monday 7 May, the equipment was so well dug in that they couldn't move.
The bird watchers, who don't want their identities revealed, say that within half an hour of them disturbing the equipment, a huge British Army operation swung into action as they moved in to recover the spy equipment.
Along with scores of troops and vehicles, the British Army used a helicopter in the recovery operation.
The British Army may even have set fire to the mountain in an effort to cover up the extent of the operation. At the time the recovery operation was going on, a large section of the Black Mountain was engulfed in flames and smoke billowed across the hills.
Sources have told An Phoblacht that the cameras may have been trained on the homes of republicans living in the Andersonstown area and expressed their concern that the SAS may have been involved in a long term intelligence gathering process.
In 1994, just weeks after loyalists shot dead Tyrone pensioner Rose Anne Mallon in her home near Dungannon, similar spy equipment was uncovered in a nearby disused farmhouse. Given that these cameras are constantly monitored, it is certain that members of the British Army and RUC witnessed the killing.
Sinn Féin's Michael Browne, who represents the area being spied on, accused the British Ministry of Defence of undermining the Good Friday Agreement and said the British government must not allow the securocrats to dictate the political agenda.
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)