Summary Law enforcement has been unable to halt a rise in crack cocaine trafficking and gun-related violence in Britain. To contain the violent Jamaican gangs behind this epidemic, British police forces may find they have to arm themselves as heavily as the criminals. Analysis British Home Office Minister Bob Ainsworth warned last month that his country is on the verge of a national crack cocaine epidemic that could lead to unprecedented surges in gun-related crimes and violent robberies. British law enforcement so far has failed to make a dent in the crack cocaine trafficking industry — controlled mainly by Jamaican gangsters commonly called Yardies — despite two years of redoubled counter-narcotics efforts in key trafficking centers like London, Bristol and Liverpool.