Taoiseach’s concern at fall in price of cocaine

THE Taoiseach is to alert the authorities in Ireland to the threat posed by the dramatic reduction in the price of cocaine from Colombia.

During his visit to Mexico, Mr Ahern said he picked up on the concern of officials at the low cost of the drug with a hit now costing as little as 30 cents.

The fall in the street value has only happened since November and there is now a danger that the substance will become available on the international market at a similar price, he said. “It’s gone really cheap and is causing a real problem in Mexico. I’ll be talking to people at home about it.”

According to a recent report conducted by Mexican researchers, marijuana is the most addictive drug on the market, Mr Ahern said.

The Mexican authorities were shocked at the liberalisation of the drug in Britain, he said, as marijuana was a gateway drug to cocaine.

Speaking before his departure for Dublin, the Taoiseach said he also discussed the case of Colombia Three with officials from the Irish Embassy to Mexico, who are monitoring the case on behalf of the Government.

All told, Mr Ahern regarded his four-day visit to Mexico as a success. On the political end, the mission was accomplished because agreement was reached on the process of the EU-Latin American summit to be held next May.

The summit will be held in Mexico and co-chaired by Ireland as then EU president. The summit will be important as it will be the first time the 10 EU accession countries will be present at a conference of this nature. But Mr Ahern said he wanted to ensure that the summit was trade related.

The trade mission had succeeded in opening up links between the two countries, Mr Ahern said, and he expected to see a number of contracts signed in the coming months.

“I am confident that there will be a number of significant things done out of this trip,” he said.

The improvement in trade links with Mexico reiterated Ireland’s status as the most globalised economy in the world. Mexico is part of more trade pacts than any other country in the world and that is why it was chosen for particular focus, Mr Ahern said.

“We really live at home on exports and we have to be looking out on to new horizons,” he said.

The importance of the Taoiseach’s visit in Mexico could not be understated, according to the head of the Irish business delegation.

Enterprise Ireland chief executive Dan Flinter said Mr Ahern’s presence ensured that a number of important officials and business people met with Irish counterparts. Mexico’s e-business tzar Juan Cesar Margain showed up solely because the Taoiseach was present, Mr Flinter said.

“We are hoping he will come to Ireland as he is driving the strategy. He is interested in what happened in Ireland and we hope to set him up with some of our companies,” he said. Mexico is an important market in terms of its scale with its own huge economy and its position in relation to Central and Latin America, Mr Flinter said.

“The trip has given the companies a really good platform for which to follow through to get contracts,” he said.

The stability of the Mexico’s financial system to ride out recent economic storms also made it an attractive business location for Irish companies, Mr Flinter said.

“It gives you a lot of confidence that there is substance behind the economy, even though there was a downturn in the US market. The investment in the infrastructure is substantial here and there is a great sense of them wanting to open up their economy,” he said.