Gary Fisher’s plan could be scuppered as enforcer flexes muscles to takeover drugs network.
With South East Antrim UDA’s criminal empire set to break up as the gang appear to be set on a course to transition, Fisher is keen to reinvent himself as a good guy.
Sources say he has spoken openly about a future in politics and has even considered an approach to the DUP to see if they allow him into their ranks.
No approach has been made and the party is unaware of any intention for him to do so.
However, he is understood to have told associates that his play to the party would be that he could bring with him considerable backing which would translate into guaranteed votes.
South East Antrim UDA spokesman Tommy Kirkham, with William Cameron and South East Antrim Leader Gary Fisher
SEA has indicated a willingness and readiness to scale down its involvement in criminal activity, but having come under increasing pressure from the Paramilitary Crime Task Force, Fisher is anxious to protect himself from prosecution.
The leadership has also been forced on to the back foot by a faction linked to a resurgent Colin Simms.
The one-time trusted Fisher enforcer is flexing his muscles and his crew have made their move to take over SEA’s lucrative drugs operation, according to sources.
Fisher has been agitating to move away from SEA for some time. The Sunday World revealed he had devised an escape plan with a new life in Liverpool.
His plot to escape with a slice of SEA’s profits came in the wake of a major health scare a few years ago, but was scuppered by other leading figures in the association.
The breakaway UDA unit has been in talks with British government officials for some time exploring the possibility it could move away from paramilitary activity.
Gary Fisher
News in 90 Seconds – 24th August 2025
A significant portion of the suspected 2,000-plus membership has indicated their intention to stand down. The organisation say it is no longer taking membership dues, and all recruitment has stopped.
It has opened the door for killer driver, convicted drug smuggler and murder suspect Simms to make his move.
As previously revealed, Simms is being bankrolled by a car dealer and suspected drug dealer currently under investigation by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) who he has been working for over recent months.
Playing on his reputation as a hard man, the car dealer has made Simms his enforcer, putting pressure on dealers and ensuring payments are made.
But now Simms is set to go the extra mile.
He is not put off by the fact his boss, now considered to be on course to outstrip SEA as the biggest drug dealer in south east Antrim, is under scrutiny from the NCA which is understood to have seized computers and mobile phones.
His drug dealer boss is in the car business and is understood to have used his industry contacts in Britain to bring drugs into Northern Ireland.
The pair now have their eyes on taking over the SEA’s drug dealing operation which they run in partnership with a well-known family in the greater Belfast area.
The family provide an unchallenged smuggling route which sources claim is bringing four to five kilos of cocaine into Northern Ireland every week.
The operation is blindingly simple and also involves a pirate taxi firm which is run from a bar in Co Antrim.
The scam involves a bogus customer requesting a particular car which is sourced in England, mainly Liverpool. A driver is sent across to bring the car which is collected dockside in Merseyside, back to Northern Ireland.
It has been pre-packed with drugs.
“If Colin gets his hands on that drug run and gets the travellers and the taxi firm on board, then he’s the boss. No question.”
The source added that the organised crime gang has been running drugs into the country this way for some time without being challenged or stopped by police.
Colin Simms
Simms and his boss see SEA’s recent declaration that they have ceased recruitment, no longer take membership dues and are willing to at least “partially stand down” as an opportunity.
The taxi firm offers drivers willing to cross the water and fetch cars, they also act as couriers back home distributing the cocaine.
The source added that Simms is using his reputation as a hard man to put pressure on the taxi firm and travellers even using his alleged involvement in the murder of Glenn Quinn in Carrick in 2020 as a warning of what he is capable of.
Simms has never been charged in connection with the brutal murder of terminally ill Glenn in his home five years ago, but he remains a suspect in the unsolved murder.
Fisher and the SEA leadership are said to be furious at Simms’ move but are restricted in their ability to respond because of the pledges they have made to the British government that they will scale back their criminal activities.
It is not thought Simms’ dealer boss has any paramilitary connections.
By hooking up with a known dealer who is in direct competition with Fisher’s operation, Simms was taking a considerable risk. He is under strict orders from Fisher to stay out of the drugs trade, after he was nailed for dealing on the SEA’s patch.
As revealed by the Sunday World he was put through a mock execution before being given a beating in February.
It was punishment for failing to heed repeated warnings to stop drug dealing.