A mini criminal assets bureau should be established in areas worst affected by substance abuse to seize the assets of those known to be enriched by the drugs trade, a campaigner has said.
Sue Collins, founder of Addiction Response Crumlin (ARC), was speaking at the publication of research into dealers' intimidation of families, conducted by the CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign.
Ms Collins, whose organisation has supported hundreds of families affected by drugs over the past two decades, said: “In Crumlin we have been calling for a local, mini-Cab to take the local ‘big boys’ out of circulation. The young people, they see how these people grow in prosperity from the drugs trade, how they have the new clothes, the cars, the foreign holidays.”
Glamour and status
She said children, often with fewer prospects than those from other parts of the city, were attracted to the glamour and status apparently derived from involvement in dealing drugs. This needed to be removed.
She said she lived "a few doors down" from the home of murdered gangster David Byrne, whose funeral on Monday attracted between 800-1,000 mourners. She said there were floral tributes outside his family home, something she had not seen outside the homes of young people who had died of drug overdoses or suicides,
The report, Demanding Money with Menace: Drug-related Intimidation and Community Violence in Ireland, found that two-thirds of those who experience intimidation do not report it to the Garda Síochána. Almost half of the incidents of intimidation involved physical violence and almost a third involved damage to homes or property.
The main targets of intimidation for drug debts were the users (50 per cent) and his or her mother (38 per cent).
Support organisations
Ms Collins said families affected turned to support organisations such as ARC or the Family Support Network, rather than going to statutory agencies. People tended to avoid going out or had even left areas – moving in with families or sleeping in cars – to try to escape intimidation.
“We advise people to do things like stay back from windows, not answer the door unless they’re sure whose there.”
She called for more gardaí on the streets, particularly community gardaí, though she said no one would report incidents to them.
“That’s the worst thing you could do, to rat,” she said.
Co-author of the report, criminologist Johnny Connolly, said the drugs trade received intense attention when there were shootings.
“But the connection is never made to the profound impact all this has on the communities. This is not a drama or a story, this is everyday life, it’s real life and it’s ongoing,” he said.
