Somali gangs building crime empires in the UK

London, Apr.11 (ANI): Violent Somali gangs are building crime empires in Britain through a brutal campaign of terror, the Daily Star reports.

The self-styled soldiers are raking in thousands of pounds a day through house raids and armed robberies. They are also committing savage acts of violence to protect their money-spinning businesses.

Drugs, guns and knives plague two Somali communities, in London and Liverpool.

On the tough backstreets of Toxteth, Liverpool, kids were walking home from school as Somali dealers as young as 14 sold crack cocaine outside a grotty corner shop.

Some of the gangsters were born in Liverpool. Others had fled their war-ravaged nation at an early age.

The paper quoted a 24-year-old ex-gang member, who had served four years in jail for attempted murder, as saying: "When you grow up surrounded by rape and murder and violence and war, anything's going to be a better life. (ANI)