Seizures of banned head shop drugs rise

A LUCRATIVE illegal market in head shop drugs has emerged since they were banned last May, new figures suggest.

In just over three months since the ban, gardaí seized more than 8kgs of prohibited powders and smoking mixtures as well as 11,000 tablets.

The haul, intercepted since the May 11 ban and 1 September, has a street value in the region of €330,000.

There have been further large seizures since September, including a haul of 1.5kgs of mephedrone, worth €50,000, in north Dublin last month.

A wide range of the most popular drugs in head shops were banned suddenly on May 11, including stimulant powders such as mephedrone and MDPV, party pills including MBZP and synthetic cannabis mixtures, like JWH-018.

A breakdown of Garda seizures of banned drugs up to 1 September include:

* 3kgs, 10,700 tablets and 20 capsules containing MBZP, worth €161,000.

* 1.5kgs, 40 capsules and eight tablets containing mephedrone, worth €51,900.

* 885 grammes, 90 tablets and six capsules of MDPV, a stimulant powder, worth €31,500.

* 2.8kgs of JWH-018, worth around €85,000.

The Garda figures also show a booming market in BZP tablets, a stimulant drug which was banned in March 2009.

Some 440,000 BZP tablets, 11kgs and 6,300 capsules were confiscated during 2009, highlighting the scale of the illegal market that emerged after the ban. That haul had an estimated street value of €2.8m.

This year, BZP seizures have dropped, but still remain substantial, with 260,000 tablets, 2.2kgs and 366 capsules confiscated up to 1 September. These drugs have a valuation of €1.4m.

Garda and community sources said some of the powders banned last May, such as mephedrone, had built up a strong popularity among users, who still wanted the drug.

Some of the dealers now supplying former head shop drugs illegally may have had contacts and knowledge with manufacturers abroad from working in the head shop trade.

In a major mephedrone seizure last July in Dublin, involving 1.5kgs of the drug, gardaí arrested two young men who were not known to them as drug suppliers. Gardaí suspected the two may have had contacts in the head shop trade and decided to enter the illegal market.

Last month, gardaí in Ballymun, north Dublin, seized another 1.5kgs of mephedrone.

Recently, reports circulated that dealers in Dublin’s north inner city were leaving samples of powders, thought to be mephedrone, outside the doors of private apartments in a bid to drum up further demand.

But Garda sources have cast doubt on those reports. Gardaí in the area, which once had the highest concentration of head shops, said no regular trade in former head shop drugs had emerged.