‘There were needles everywhere’ - London gang turned Great Yarmouth home into a drug den

(left to right) Aldenir Pinto, Ashley Papper, Dilen Baran and Yasmina Ghanamme were all jailed on Friday October 20 for their part in bringing drugs to Yarmouth. Photo: Norfolk Police (Image: Norfolk Police)

When a new landlord bought the home on Walpole Road early this year and found evidence of drug use, he evicted all the tenants including Ashley Papper, who had begun working for the gang operating under the name 'Apollo'.

After some refused to leave, the landlord cut the electricity.

To this day the house remains boarded up, and neighbours report squatters have moved in. On Friday at Snaresbrook Crown Court the boss of the gang, Aldenir Pinto, was jailed for eight years.

MORE: London gang jailed for bringing £250,000 of drugs in to Great YarmouthOne couple, who asked not to be named, lived in the seven-bedroom house at the same time as Papper. They said they had been his friends before they were forced to leave.

'It was a crack den,' said the woman, 29. 'The landlady sold the property to some bloke, and he told everyone to get out. When it got to the point where he cut all the electricity me and my partner left.

'They were getting raided all the time because Ashley was doing drugs out of the property. That is what it was used for mostly - drugs.

'Police were round there all the time doing drug searches. It got raided a couple of times and had the door battered in. One time they all got arrested and released the same day, and started doing it all over again. All they were doing in there was selling crack and smack.

'The landlord came in and caught one of the blokes doing drugs. That is why we all got kicked out of there.

'I didn't like it in there because there were drugs everywhere.

'They were friends at the time but not very good friends. It was their choice to do this. It is their comeuppance now as they say.

'It is much better now. There aren't many police coming down here now.'

The man, 34, added: 'The best way to explain it is they turned that house into a crack den. They all put us to shame.

'Ashley moved in there in July last year. It was terrible in there. There were needles everywhere. The landlord came in and said he wanted everyone out, but they said they were not leaving. They refused to go and were forcefully removed.

'After that they were squatting. That is the best way to describe it.'

The owner of another house on Walpole Road said the area 'did have a bit of a reputation for drugs being sold.'

He added: 'The place is progressively getting better.'