PEOPLE WHO spend €20 at the weekend on cannabis but who distance themselves from gangland killings need to know they are financing the gangs that carry them out, the new chief of the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) has said.
At a conference on organised crime in Dublin yesterday, Det Chief Supt Pat Byrne said other European countries should examine the Irish model of non-conviction based forfeiture of criminal assets. The conference, hosted by the Institute of International and European Affairs, was also addressed by Europol director Rob Wainwright and Gary Leong, senior lawyer with the Serious Fraud Office in Britain.
Mr Byrne, who was appointed head of the Cab two weeks ago, said society was paying a long-term price for the activities of a few and “in some cases, left a legacy of improper planning and development”. He also said people who used drugs supplied by criminals needed to take responsibility.
“People in our own communities who spend €20 on their weekend cannabis joints don’t associate themselves with the so-called gangland killings on a Sunday morning,” he said.
“But they themselves have directly contributed to the financing of these gangs and they continue through their drug misuse to fund organised crime. They should realise that.”
Mr Byrne also said there had been improvement in co-operation between European countries.
Some countries had difficulties with the Irish system of non-conviction based forfeiture of criminal assets, he said, but they should understand the processes had been subject to intense scrutiny by the courts.
It had been operating for 13 years and if there were serious human rights issues, cases would have been brought before the European Court of Human Rights.
He was not claiming the methods used in Ireland were the panacea for strategies internationally, but they should be examined.
Mr Wainwright said his organisation was promoting the work of the Cab as best practice and trying to raise standards in other European countries.
He also said police forces across Europe needed to make more integrated efforts to fight organised crime, including online crime.
