From Admiralty House Park to Needle Park off Court Street, Bermuda's drugs scourge is obvious. But how deep does the problem go? In the third of a six-part series a former drug dealer who kept the Island supplied with narcotics for 18 years talks candidly to reporter Matthew Taylor about his activities.

Tomorrow: "I got into crack because one night I couldn't get hold of marijuana. I always said I'd never use it, people on it were losers -- but the first night I was hooked.'' A former drug addict speaks out.

A chance encounter while playing with his kids on a beach led to a career as a drugs dealer for John.

For the next 18 years he lived a life of luxury with cars and boats, untouched by the police.

While some prefer to view the drugs problem as belonging to a nether world of low-life criminals, John's tale shows how easy it is for family folk to get dragged in.

He claims Bermuda's elite is far from innocent. John (not his real name) claims the upper echelons are enmeshed in the drugs world with politicians and policemen getting a cut of the action.

Financial hardship drove John to get involved. He says: "I started 22 years ago - I was playing football on Elbow beach with my son when three Columbians came up to me and asked me if I was interested in buying drugs.'' "I really thought they were police so I said no but they came back the next day and asked me again. But you get an idea of who the police are so I told them to get the drugs to this address.

"I was trying to make ends meet, I needed the cash to redo the house and that's how I made it. I'd never smoked or snorted in those days.

"They delivered 32 ounces of cocaine and seven pounds of marijuana. I dealt with the same people for the rest of my time as a dealer.

"They were working on one of the cruise ships and would bring it in from New York. I was making $5,000 on each ounce of cocaine, sometimes I would sell it wholesale at $3,200 an ounce.

"I kept the drugs in a coat in my closet, later I had a round bed made with sections to keep the money in. In six months I'd made $500,000.

"Some of the money went to mates to build apartments, I lent money for people to buy cars.

"I kept this up for years but I felt frightened every day and prayed for guidance and protection, but the cash felt good.

"I had everything at my fingertips. I was buying racing boats, I had 13 cars, I'd take trips abroad and take $7-10,000 as spending money. I never partied in Bermuda, I don't like the clubs here.'' But if the partying was hectic, so was business.

"I had three guys selling it for me. They'd come and get it, sell it, bring the money back and get more all day. They went on every day up until 10 p.m.

"The three guys who were selling it used to hang around outside the Rangers Club -- our patch was between there and Hamilton. That was my area. We could sell 16 ounces of coke a night.

"In all my years of dealing I never sold drugs directly.

"The Colombian guys used to get it from their home country -- one of their brothers shipped it to New York and then they would bring it with them from there -- they all worked on the cruise ships.

Drawn into a life of crime: `It's so easy to start dealing drugs -- it's just a phone call away' "I helped them get enough money to buy a house and after that they started to trust me, I was like a brother to them. I was getting kilos of coke at a time and 20-30 pounds of marijuana.

"People knew my couriers, we sold to the exempt companies, people in banks, they would call my guys on their pagers and agree to meet us in an area at a certain time.

"They'd choose places on the beach, by certain bus stops -- any place that was hidden. There was one guy who was the manager of a big hotel who'd buy $7-10,000 worth of coke every Thursday.'' Despite his massive turnover John was never raided by the Police -- yet he denies being an informer.

He says: "Sometimes people told me that the Police were watching them, they'd tell me the Police knew I was selling drugs.

"There were cameras and stakeouts, they tried to get close to people I was close to but if they'd wanted to bust me they would have busted me -- I don't know why they didn't. But I wasn't an informer -- I hate the Police.

"They never knew too much about me selling drugs, they just knew what they'd heard, they never got evidence.

"Other dealers wanted me to stop selling because I had good quality drugs, and they weren't making any money.

"One guy paid me $15,000 to stop dealing. I stopped for a week and then started selling again the week after.

"People still confront me today wanting to buy stuff. I sold it pure, if you start cutting it then it can take longer to sell or you end up messing it up one way or another.

"I used to know these three girls who would come all the way from America for it.

"This guy would rent a room and put up the money for the drugs and they'd have sex with him.

"They'd come here because nobody knew them so they could free up when they wanted to free up. They liked the quality of drugs.'' John's reputation as a safe supplier who could deliver high-grade drugs soon got around the Island's community of addicts.

And he insists that the typical image of a drug abuser -- down-and out resorting to a life of burglary and prostitution in a bid to feed their ever-growing habit -- certainly did not apply to all his clients.

"The rich people always came to me, I had the exempt company bosses, the loan guys in the banks. Doctors and nurses would come by and buy the drugs for personal use.

"There were four politicians dealing, they were putting up big money. There were a number of good lawyers fronting money, there were businessmen, prison officers and quite a few cops.

"They were dealing heroin and marijuana, they would put up the money and get somebody else to sell it for them.

"I started dealing heroin about six years after I started selling coke and marijuana.

"You can get it in much smaller packages, I could sell it much faster than coke and the money would come much faster. "I get the heroin in from Jamaica.

Two girls who worked on the airlines, a stewardess and a beautician, would bring it on the plane in their underwear, they'd bring it right to me.

"They'd be flying in from New York, Atlanta, Philadelphia, South America. I had connections in all those places.'' And he is scornful of the police's attempts to curb the dealers' trade. "The Police will never win that battle, there's a lot of crooked policemen.

"They spent all that money on high tech cars so all the officers sit behind the wheel but they should be out checking people.

"When people call the police they can't come on time, they haven't got the manpower. They are in it for the same reason -- to make money.

"Many have told me that if they had the chance they would be selling drugs.'' "Cleansweep was a joke -- everybody knew it was coming. All it succeeded in doing was landing the stupid sellers -- a lot of young guys got so greedy, that's how they got caught. All they wanted was the dollar. "So when somebody came to buy drugs they'd go right up to them, even if they didn't know them.

They never checked them out.'' John has seen the drugs business get more vicious and greedy during nearly two decades as a dealer. And, of even greater concern perhaps, is the fact that those involved in the drugs industry and its subsidiary trades are getting younger and younger.

"A lot of girls have started selling it now - aged 14, 15, 16, they need the cash because their boyfriend ain't taking care of them. "I know a 15-year-old who is selling coke and heroin just trying to make ends meet.

"These days the bags are smaller and the heroin weaker. There's no good stuff around any more, everybody's trying to make more money so they're cutting it.

"People should be careful, some dealers cut it with rat poison.

"It's so easy to start dealing drugs, it's just a phone call away. You check out where they are selling it and people will put you in touch.

"I reckon there are about 200 dealers on the island.

"Some people get organised, some people go in blind, they just take a chance and don't know what they're buying.

"Often the drug has already been cut before they get it and they try to stretch it further.

"A lot of people from the banks front money. Some even smuggle it, the more well known you are the easier it is to get through.

"Heroin is coming back into fashion now. They should legalise marijuana, I know guys who would never sell heroin or coke but often there's a shortage of marijuana so they have to get into it. "People start selling drugs just to get by here. If you're just an ordinary guy with a wife and three kids it's hard to get by.

"Everyone here's working three jobs to pay the mortgage - you're just priced out of existence. You need to be a millionaire or a drug dealer.

"Drugs are a very tempting way to make money. Even guys in business are dealing drugs.

"We hear these stories about all the drug seizures but it's just the tip of the iceberg.

"When one guy gets caught he's just the decoy. They'll be 10-20 kilos coming right behind him.'' Page 4 Shady deals: According to some dealers, buying `twists' of illegal drugs on the streets of Bermuda is far easier than some people think.