High Street mini-marts selling cocaine, cannabis and prescription drugs, BBC secret filming reveals

cocaine, cannabis, and prescription drugs are being sold openly in high street mini-marts across the uk, a bbc undercover investigation found. researchers bought illegal substances from shops in four west midlands towns, with one worker in cradley heath offering "weed, coke, everything" and selling 3.5g of cannabis for £30 and a gram of cocaine for £95. the investigation, part of a year-long project, identified more than 70 shops nationwide linked to drugs like crystal meth and heroin. in dudley, trading standards lead kuldeep maan said drug and counterfeit sales are the worst in 20 years; his team shut 39 shops for illegal cigarettes in a year, repeatedly finding drugs during raids. workers used "spotters" to watch for police and followed the bbc team on the street. local business owners described intimidation and violence, with one salon owner's windows smashed four times. liam byrne mp called the scale "horrifying" and urged the government to act. the home office said it is working with police and the nca to take "the strongest possible action."