A security source has told Belfast Live that the last seven years has seen South Belfast and the city centre become hotspots for heroin dealing.
The police officer, who did not wish to be named, said that once heroin was being dealt on a wide basis, it becomes very difficult to retrieve the situation.
The source said: "It's only in relatively recent time that you've seen Belfast city centre and South Belfast change where there's a demand for heroin.
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"People have stepped into that market and have done so from various parts of the world basically - you've got Russian crime gangs, Eastern European crime gangs, Lithuanian and Albanian crime gangs.
"An awful lot of these crime gangs are actually based in Dublin, it's their primary city in Ireland.
"You've seen the Hutch-Kinahan feud over the years, there's millions and millions and millions of euros involved in that.
"But other crime gangs have seen an avenue and opening in Northern Ireland where they can sell heroin.
"For the past seven years or so, there has been a concerted effort to sell heroin in South Belfast and the city centre."
The officer said that the primary route for drugs arriving in Northern Ireland was from the Republic of Ireland, with cars used sometimes for transport, but trains being the most common method.
"They can get a drug mule to hop on a train at Connolly Station in Dublin and go completely unimpeded the whole way to Belfast.
"Or maybe get off at Newry and jump in a car and go back south of the border, switch cars there again and then head to where they need to go."
They went on to add that the Holyland area, mostly populated by students, has come to serve as a lucrative hotspot for drug dealers.
"There's low-level dealers there being supplied by higher up the foodchain," they said.
"Those are the dealers on the streets that the heroin addicts will go to, they'll never know their real name, but they'll be able to say 'I need a 40 bag in half an hour' and that deal will basically be done in a back alleyway.
"Now when you're talking about a cannabis seizure, you might be talking about £200 to £300,000 and those are the ones that obviously make the press.
"But whenever a heroin seizure is made, it's maybe a few hundred pounds, maybe up to one or two grand.
"Dealers know not to carry huge amounts of heroin because that is seen as carrying a large custodial sentence."
The security source told Belfast Live that the best way of tackling the issue was through covert monitoring and proactive operations.
"Surveillance is labour-intensive and sometimes it can run for days and weeks without tangible results, but it still needs to be done, because if you don't, drug dealers will fill that void," they said.
"There's a perception out there that uniformed policing can combat this, but it doesn't because anybody that is street smart knows to put the word out that there are uniformed officers in the area."
They also said that one possible route for targeting the profits of criminal gangs might be to discuss the decriminalisation of some drugs.
"I do think the decriminalisation of cannabis could be a potential route here that might help," they added.
"If it's legalised, you're also cutting out that avenue of revenue for the paramilitary and organised crime gangs.
"The PSNI do a very good job of intercepting cannabis every year, but they only get a certain amount and decriminalising it deprives those gangs of a massive revenue source.
"It also frees up resources to really hammer the harder drugs, but it's a debate for society I guess."
There was also a warning that without action taken to address those dealing hard drugs, Belfast could find itself in a worsening scenario quickly.
"You're going to end up with a major health and crime problem - parts of South Belfast now are almost unrecognisable and they simply don't feel safe," they said.
"If you'd said that to somebody a few years ago they'd have said you're off your rocker.
"You've also got stuff like spice, these synthetic drugs that are easily found as well.
"If you're not covertly knocking out and putting pressure on these low level dealers, that'll get worse at a dramatic rate and once you go that far, it's very hard to come back from that."
The PSNI said it works with a number of partner agencies to target the operations of organised crime gangs, including An Garda Síochána in instances of cross-border criminality.
Detective Superintendent Emma Neill, from Organised Crime Branch, said: “The Police Service of Northern Ireland will continue working closely with partners to tackle the issue of illegal drugs in communities across Northern Ireland.
“Right across the Police Service we work hard every day to keep people safe, and in particular we have a clear focus on the risk and harm resulting from illicit drugs, their supply and demand.
“That’s why in July last year we launched Operation Dealbreaker. It’s our operational approach to tackle every aspect of drug misuse across Northern Ireland, including the harrowing impact drug use has on the lives and relationships of people.
“In the 12 months from July 1 2021 to June 30 2022, there were 8,063 drug seizure incidents across Northern Ireland. Over the same period, there were 2,530 drug seizure incidents and 1,268 drug-related arrests in Belfast.
“We are continuing to do all we can to prevent and detect as much drug related activity as possible, be that importation, supply, possession, or financial gain resulting from drug related criminality, and proactively work to break criminal drug dealing networks to prevent harm to local communities."
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