The area is at the heart of a brutal battle which has left vulnerable teenagers dead and whole communities in fear

They emerge at dusk, gathering on the corner of Queen’s Crescent and Weedington Road. Lookouts are stationed to the south-west on Malden Road, while to the north youngsters on bicycles deliver pre-ordered cocaine and heroin.

This is the home turf of QC Blox, one of the most notorious street gangs of Camden, north London. Named after the layout of the 1960s Queen’s Crescent estate, the gang has 70 members, predominantly of Somali origin, sources say. Well organised and seemingly able to easily entice recruits, it has a ferocious reputation locally. “They are fearless, even the 15-year-olds. I swear the police are scared,” said resident Abdul Musavir, outside the Baitul Aman mosque.

Camden has become the latest flashpoint of the UK’s violent crime crisis, propelled partly by a buoyant drugs trade and county lines business model. More specifically, renewed friction between QC Blox and the nearby Agar Grove estate posse and to the south, the Camden Marliez, who preside over one of London’s most coveted drugs markets, the borough’s famous Camden Lock, have aggravated tensions.

They are fearless, even the 15-year-olds. I swear the police are scared Abdul Musavir, resident

“We have gangs all vying for control of the area I’m afraid; tit-for-tat murders, retribution, defending the honour of their friends,” said Terry Ellis, co-founder of Camden Against Violence (CAV).

Earlier this month Camden witnessed three murders in five days, shocking a capital increasingly inured to deadly drugs violence. It began on 8 September when Shakira Loseke, 22, was fatally stabbed on an estate a few hundred yards south of Queen’s Crescent. An hour later, and a minute’s walk away, Wilson Varela, 24, was killed in a drive-by shooting. His murderers, say sources, believed he was a member of QC Blox but it was a case of mistaken identity. Four days later Assad Yarow, 25, was attacked by a gang using machetes outside nearby Camden tube station, one of London’s busiest areas.

To trace the roots of the current volatility, investigators have gone back to 20 February last year when the territory of QC Blox was again targeted. Abdikarim Hassan, 17, was murdered at 8.30pm in Kentish Town, and less than two hours later Sadiq Mohamed, 20, was fatally stabbed close to Queen’s Crescent.

These crimes prompted calls for greater police protection and demands for investment in youth projects and opportunities. But Chandice, who styles herself “Queen of the Crescent” and runs a Jamaican food stall close to Weedington Road, said: “Still the police do nothing, the area feels unsafe, people are scared to go out. I got assaulted on Malden Road a few days ago.”

Mohammed, a youth worker for the Queen’s Crescent community centre, said there had been investment in youth projects, but underlying issues, notably why children joined violent gangs in the first place, remained largely unaddressed. For instance, he said, the absence of free school meals during the school holidays could push poor pupils into running errands for gangs. “There is still a long way to go to identify and address the issues,” said Mohammed.

CAV was formed after last year’s double murder and another co-founder, Queen’s Crescent resident Michelle West, said: “It’s certainly got no better in the 17 months since.” Within the borough there were 7,143 violence-against-a-person offences documented in the year to May 2019, a 60% increase on 2013. There were 379 crimes recorded within half a mile of Queen’s Crescent in July. Between August 2018 and July 2019 more than 4,000 crimes were recorded around the territory of QC Blox.

Destabilising Camden’s traditional gang order is the proliferation of rival county lines gangs. Two miles south of Queen’s Crescent lie King’s Cross and St Pancras railway stations, starting point for the distribution of class A substances north.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A tribute to Assad Yarow, known as “Nutz”, who was stabbed to death on 18 September on Camden High Street. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Last Tuesday evening, Khadija stood among the rush hour crowds outside King’s Cross scouring the crowds for her 18-year-old son. Isaak, not his real name, was involved in a county lines business and recently Khadija had received sightings of him at the station and outside the McDonald’s opposite on Euston Road. Her son was not a member of QC Blox or Camden Marliez, but belonged to one of the myriad smalltime USGs (urban street gangs) dealing drugs. His gang’s size left him vulnerable to attack from bigger rivals.

Khadija showed images on her mobile phone of her son’s T-shirt and jacket dating from 1 September. Although the garments are black, the darkened stains of blood were easily detectable. “He was beaten up in Grantham [Lincolnshire] by dealers, really badly, serious head injuries and then came back to London,” she said. During the attack, he was robbed of his drugs and now Isaak is in debt to his suppliers.

On 8 September the teenager was arrested in a flat just over a mile from Camden. This time his supplies of drugs were confiscated by police, placing him in deeper debt. Released on bail, Isaak has since disappeared. The last thing he told his mother was that he was going to get even with the men who attacked him. “He is trapped. Recently he told me: ‘No one wants to do this.’ I am extremely worried for his mental wellbeing,” she said. She shows an email she sent to the Metropolitan police explaining her son’s vulnerability and asking if she can see him if he is caught and in custody again. The response from the Met officer is abrupt: “I can’t and won’t agree to such requests. Please refrain from making similar requests.”

Bedfordshire, a brief train journey from St Pancras, is popular with Camden’s gangs. A recent drugs market profile by Bedfordshire police articulated why: 34,000 people used illegal drugs in Bedfordshire with the cocaine market alone worth £53.8m a year.

Children from London, confirmed the force, had been found during drugs raids in Bedford, including a 17-year-old from north London who had been classified as a victim of modern slavery. Last week Bedfordshire police launched the country’s first violence and exploitation reduction unit (Veru) with an emphasis on protecting vulnerable youngsters. Working closely with the Met, the unit is headed by Kimberley Lamb who said her first priority would be looking at pupil referral units and care homes where vulnerable youngsters are targeted by gangs. “We need to protect excluded children who are being exploited,” she said.

Back in London, Khadija, weary of trying to find her son, began walking home, north beyond King’s Cross. The mother-of-five was soon walking through the various gang fiefdoms. First, the territory of the Somers Town Boys, then the SOC (south of Camden) gang and the RPE (Regent Park Estate), close to where 16-year-old Alex Smith was chased and killed with a machete last month. Nearby is Camden town itself and the lock, visited by 100,000 people each weekend. “There the trade is so blatant, it’s 24/7 drug tourism. Everyone’s aware of it,” said Camden Against Violence’s Ellis.

A few minutes’ north stands the Sir Robert Peel, a pub on Queen’s Crescent named after the founder of the Metropolitan police. Inside, drinkers said they had developed a system for keeping the peace.

Colin, a regular, said: “The gang don’t come in here, they know this is our place. They’ve got the streets.”