Their lawless presence is visible across East Belfast. 'Property of the UVF' still marks a derelict bar - seized in 2011 by the Serious Organised Crime Agency - to warn off potential buyers.

Sinister murals of masked gunmen and paramilitary flags are blatant attempts to intimidate and claim ownership.

But just how much control does the UVF actually have in the east of the city?

"I sold up my business because I was fed up having to deal with them. They were constantly hassling for protection money and wanting favours. You can't go to the police about it. It's not worth the risk. You either fall into line with what they want or get out," a former East Belfast businessman told the Belfast Telegraph.

"They control the place; not the police, not the politicians. It's as if everyone is turning a blind eye to what is going on.

"It was like living under the Mafia."

Mervyn Jones, an Alliance councillor for the area, added: "They don't have control across the whole constituency, only in parts. But in those parts they are a law unto themselves."

A large portion of businesses in the area are forced to pay "protection money" to the terror group.The fee is around £15 a week, but at Christmas and over the July fortnight business owners must pay a £500 bonus. If they refuse they face the risk of having their business burnt to the ground.

The racketeers are also heavily involved in drugs, particularly cocaine and marijuana.

It is understood that the number of drug dealers in the area is increasing rapidly, but they only receive a "licence to operate" if they pay the UVF £30 a week. According to the PSNI, between April and December last year the highest number of cannabis factories discovered by the PSNI anywhere in Northern Ireland was in East Belfast, where 14 factories were busted.

During this period the street value of all seized drugs in the area totalled £298,454.

It is understood that the majority of the drugs are brought into the area by two brothers, formerly linked to the UDA. They are circulated to dealers by the gang's East Belfast leader, who likes to be known as 'The Beast in the East'.

The 52-year-old crime boss, who is well-known to the authorities, has four deputies who oversee his criminal rackets and act as his debt collectors in Woodstock Road, Newtownards Road, Sydenham and parts of north Down, including the Westwinds estate in Newtownards.

The gang boss was arrested in May as part of an investigation into criminality, but after being released on bail he spent four months holidaying in Benidorm, where he and a number of his cronies own mobile homes.

He has been a thorn in the side of the mainstream UVF, who for several years found him to be out of control. When the UVF in the Shankill put pressure on 'the Beast' following the attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend Jemma McGrath in 2013 by members of the East Belfast UVF, he split away from the mainstream terror gang to run his own operation.

The PSNI has insisted that the paramilitary gang is continually being disrupted. In 2013 Operation MORS targeted drug dealing and other criminal activity by UVF members in the east of the city and police said there were 175 drug seizures and 115 related arrests in the area last year.

PSNI area commander, Chief Inspector David Moore, said that police have been working with the local community to tackle a range of criminality, including drugs, the supply and operation of illegal gaming machines and the counterfeit cigarette trade.

Mr Moore said that in October last year, in a joint operation between PSNI and Customs officers, 4,884 mixed brand cigarettes and 450gms of hand rolled tobacco were seized from two premises in East Belfast.

Dr Jonny Byrne, a lecturer in criminology at the University of Ulster, said that despite attempts to eradicate the control of paramilitary groups, some individuals remain reluctant to leave the scene and give up their power and influence.

"There is no justification for these organisations. They are criminal gangs that continue to terrorise their communities in pursuit of power and financial rewards, with the sole objective of establishing fiefdoms and empires outside the remit of the police," he said.

Why focus on the east?

East is a series which matters to people right across Northern Ireland. Since 2010, when Alliance's Naomi Long ousted DUP leader Peter Robinson, east Belfast has rarely been far from the news headlines.

The battle for power has been one of the fiercest in Northern Ireland and in May it will be the result many people look to first.

The battle to win hearts and minds there has meant the key issues in the east have entered the main body of politics here as a whole as the ruling party, the DUP, finds ways to respond to the loss of one of its heartlands. That means what happens in the east affects us all. All this week the Belfast Telegraph is focusing on this key battleground of the general election. We'll be looking at the issues at stake, talking to people on the ground - and crucially - publishing an exclusive opinion poll on which way the seat might go.

Belfast Telegraph