Van raiders run off with heroin-related drug

GARDAÍ were yesterday hunting two men who stole a large consignment of tranquillisers from a pharmacy.

At least 600 packets of Dalmane sleeping tablets were taken from a van as it was carrying out a delivery.

The van had stopped outside a chemist on Talbot Street in Dublin’s north inner city when the raid took place.

“A man was making a delivery to a pharmacy when two men ran up and removed two boxes from the back of the van,” said a garda spokesman.

“The items taken include a substantial amount of Dalmane which is dangerous if consumed without medical advice.”

Gardai have appealed to anyone with information to contact Store Street Garda Station on 01 6668000.

The raid took place just before 11am last Friday. A media alert was released yesterday after the scale of the robbery emerged.

Dalmane is a sleeping tablet which belongs to a group of tranquillisers called benzodiazepines, and is commonly traded by heroin dealers and used by addicts to counter the ‘horrific’ effects of heroin withdrawal.

“They are addictive if not used properly or appropriately,” said Paul Fahey of the Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU).

“They are used by drug abusers to counter the effect of heroin withdrawals, which can be horrific.”

Mr Fahey added that the IPU was concerned at the rise in raids on members’ shops.

“Pharmacies, particularly in certain areas, are at high risk and prone to violent attacks.”

The IPU recorded 91 break-ins, attempted break-ins or hold-ups last year, 66 of them in Dublin, around 30 of them armed robberies.

Most of the items stolen were benzodiazepines or methadone (a substitute for heroin).

More than 2,400 people attended drug clinics in 2002 seeking treatment for benzodiazepines, mainly as a secondary drug to heroin.

Benzodiazepines were implicated in 234 drug deaths (or 68% of all deaths from heroin and methadone) in Dublin between 1998 and 2001.