POLICE are investigating death threats against members of an alleged drug gang operating in the picturesque Antrim glens area.
Seven people have been warned they are under threat from the Continuity IRA after being accused of operating a 'drug gang' in the area.
The organisation claims the gang are operating under the leadership of a man originally from the Dunmurry area of Belfast and are selling drugs in the towns of Cushendall, Waterfoot and Carnlough.
The threat was issued to the men using a codeword and has since been passed to the PSNI who are believed to have warned those named that they area under threat.
In a statement issued by the dissident republican group they said that the men should "stop their anti-community activities immediately or they will be executed".
"The CIRA GHQ would also take this opportunity to warn anyone else engages in the drugs trade to desist from their death dealing or face military action", the statement said.
Sin Féin's Oliver McMullan condemned the threat and said: "Talk of executing people in this day and age, what world or what time warp are they living in?
"I totally condemn this group for what they are saying, they are just sucking young people into something that will only end in a criminal record or worse.
"They are not wanted in the Glens, that's not the sort of thing we need in the Glens, those days are gone."
He added: "There are drugs in this area, no more so than anywhere else, that's not a secret. But there are proper channels to deal with these things and if people have information they should bring it to the PSNI."
