LIVERPOOL’S gang culture will be thrust into the spotlight this evening, when a BBC programme lifts the lid on how children as young as nine are arming themselves with guns.
Crime expert Graham Johnson spent seven months living with the 20-strong Moss Edz gang, from Page Moss, Huyton.
He discovered a world where tiny thugs swagger with pistols hidden in their trousers and brag about how they bring terror to their enemies.
Calling themselves “soljas” they wage turf wars against a rival gang or “firm” who live in Dovecot.
Spraying bullets through the windows of innocent people’s homes, hiding weapons, and selling drugs to pay for guns form part of the life of the gang.
For many of the gang, who are either drop-outs or kids who have been kicked out of school, it is a quick way to get rich.
The “stars” who rise through the ranks can hit the big time if they are picked to join drug cartels with hubs in the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.
One youth explained he can make £4,000-a-week “grafting” – which includes selling drugs and pimping out prostitutes.
YOUNG Gunmen, Panorama, BBC1, tonight, 7.30pm.
