Drugs: The shocking truth

In our exclusive expos of the drugs problem that is destroying thousands of lives, we reveal:

* How at least one person's home in Gwent will be burgled tonight by a heroin addict.

* That Gwent's youngest heroin addict is just 12 years old

* The scandal that sees addicts wait up to nine months for help

* How there are just TWO hospital beds in the whole of Gwent to treat drug addicts.

* That an average heroin addict will commit up to £4,000-worth of crime every WEEK to feed his habit.

The number of heroin users in Gwent has rocketed from a few hundred in the early '90s to more than 4,000.

Tough policing has reduced the available heroin in Gwent, but treatment facilities for addicts are buckling under the strain of years of under-investment.

David Jeremiah, co-ordinator for Gwent's Drug and Alcohol Team - a joint initiative by the police and health authority, said: "The problem is growing faster than the services we have."

Detective Inspector Stephen Webber, head of Gwent police's drug squad, says: "We are seeing a rise in people seeking professional help. The downside is there is still a five-month wait to get on the drug rehabilitation programme. That is unacceptable."

In the next few weeks, police expect to hit their annual target of arresting 170 class A drug dealers.

The impact of less heroin on our streets is more crime as addicts raise funds to feed their habit.

Since police smashed Newport's largest heroin dealing network last spring the number of house burglaries - a key indicator of a region's drug problems - has risen by more than seven per cent.

DI Webber said: "We have the resources to fight this on both fronts. There needs to be the right balance between enforcement, education and rehabilitation."

* TONIGHT somebody in Gwent will have their home burgled by a heroin addict. That is the sad and shocking reality of Gwent's drug epidemic, fuelled by rising crime and blighted by a worrying shortage of treatment facilities to help addicts.

The Argus can reveal that in Gwent addicts have to wait between five and nine months for the heroin substitute methadone on prescription.

During that time some die, while others have to feed their habit - and that means committing more crime.

Gwent is caught between a rock and a hard place. The combination of the war in Afghanistan (source of most of the world's opium) and major police operations in Gwent has resulted in a major shortage of heroin on our streets.

In the past three weeks alone, the shortage has resulted in the price of a bag (0.3 grams) of heroin rising threefold to more than £10. For the public that means more drug-related crime.

The fallout for the people of Gwent is that you are now more likely to be the victim of a drug-related crime than this time last year.

Since Operation Tacit smashed Newport's main heroin dealing network last spring, the number of house burglaries - a key indicator of a region's drugs problems - rose by almost ten percent between April and December to 727.

There are an average five burglaries every day in Gwent and the Home Office estimates that at least one in four of those will be drug-related.

Explaining the rising number of house burglaries in Newport, chief constable Keith Turner told Gwent police authority last month: "Fewer dealers pushes the price of drugs up and users have to steal more to buy their normal supply."

Detective Inspector Stephen Webber, who led Operation Tacit, admitted: "That is a fallout, but I believe Gwent has the resources in place to fight this on both fronts.

"It is still a major problem in Gwent, although the number of addicts has levelled out (around the 4,000 mark).

"But everything from cannabis to heroin is in our schools. The youngest addict we have had contact with is 12 years old.

"I would like to see heavier investment in drug rehabilitation and treatment. From a police perspective it may be shooting ourselves in the foot a bit, but at present only 12 and a half percent of the government's funds to tackle the drugs problem go on treatment and rehabilitation.

"There needs to be more of a balance between the three factors of education, enforcement and treatment."

There are only two beds in the whole of Gwent for treating drug addicts, both in St Cadocs in Caerleon.

A survey of Newport doctors conducted by the local authority last year showed many do not see the treatment of drug misuse as part of their core service.

In an attempt to remedy the problem Gwent GPs will be trained in substance misuse treatment from April and will forge closer links with the probation service and the police. For Gwent's drug squad, who next month will reach their target of arresting 170 people in Gwent for supplying class A drugs over the last 12 months, the battle goes on.

DI Webber said: "The priority for us is the unlawful supply and distribution of class A drugs. "These dealers must always be looking over the shoulder, because they have got to know there is no place to hide."