Female associate helping UDA drug dealer ‘Duck’ cash in behind bars

Loyalist still running cocaine racket from inside

William 'Duck' McTaggart

John Lee

July 03 2022 07:00 AM

A loyalist drugs boss is said to be continuing to run cocaine rackets from behind bars — by using a female associate as his round-the-clock dealer.

South East Antrim (SEA) UDA mobster William ‘Duck’ McTaggart is still raking in the cash by having his associate sell for him in the Rathcoole estate in Newtownabbey.

The 52-year-old was caged for two-and-a-half years last November for possessing £100,000 of cocaine with intent to supply. Although being banged up has put a dent in McTaggart’s profits, he is still making a small fortune by having the woman deal his drugs.

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Loyalist sources say she is operating under the protection of the SEA UDA who are paid a cut of the profits.

“It’s the talk of the estate, all of Duck’s old cocaine customers are buying from her now,” said one local.

“She’s easily making more than £2,000 per week. The SEA UDA is paid a cut, she takes some for herself and the rest is being put away for Duck when he gets out of jail.”

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Before he was caged McTaggart ran the SEA UDA’s entire street-dealing operation. He organised the distribution of cocaine and cannabis to dozens of dealers in loyalist strongholds of Newtownabbey, Carrickfergus, Larne, parts of Belfast and Newtownards.

But that came to an end last autumn when McTaggart was found guilty of possessing cocaine with intent to supply after a short trial.

His fingerprints were found on packages of the drug totalling 1.5 kilos inside a flat in Rathcoole. The handle of a Stanley blade used to cut the cocaine and a plastic bag in which the drugs were hidden were also revealed to have McTaggart’s DNA.

The loyalist is considered one of the most senior SEA UDA members and has a previous conviction for trying to extort £15,000 from a builder working in Rathcoole. He was snared in an undercover PSNI sting after his victim contacted detectives.

After McTaggart was jailed his lucrative drugs distributor role was taken on by a SEA UDA member from Rathcoole known as the ‘Butcher’. This individual is despised by locals who view him as a bully-boy.

The Butcher was heavily linked to sectarian threats made against builders working on a social housing project in Rathcoole last year.

Dozens of workers quit the site temporarily after graffiti appeared warning them of their safety.

SEA UDA members wrote the sickening slogans after the Butcher complained one of the workers was wearing a GAA top.

A loyalist source said: “The Butcher is an idiot, but nasty all the same. The only reason he has been promoted is because the SEA UDA leaders want someone to take the media spotlight off them. He’s too dumb to realise that.”