Garda seizures of cocaine doubles in 2004

MORE than twice as much cocaine was seized last year compared to 2003, according to garda estimates.

Provisional figures show around 220kg of cocaine was seized last year - compared to 107kg in 2003.

Applying a street retail price of around €70,000 per kilogramme, the 2004 haul would be valued at around €15.4 million, depending on purity.

“Obviously, cocaine is generally more available. The total for 2004 is quite a rise on 2003,” said Chief Supt Cormac Gordon of the Garda National Drugs Unit (GNDU).

“There have been a lot of significant seizures around the country - in Cork, Wicklow, Carlow, Limerick, Tipperary and Dublin.”

He said the nationwide dispersal of large seizures suggested more gangs were involved in trafficking.

“Obviously there is a demand for cocaine. People have a different attitude to cocaine than heroin. It was only a rich man’s drug a couple of years ago. Now it is used across the board.

“There is also great money to be made for people involved in trafficking it. A lot of cocaine has come into Europe in the last year.”

He said the increased haul reflected both an increase in supply and continuing success by gardaí and customs.

In December alone, around 86kg of the drug was seized by gardaí and customs - nearly three times as much as the total haul in 2002.

The seizure of an estimated 50kg of high purity cocaine, valued by gardaí at e10 million, in Clondalkin, Dublin, on December 16, was the single biggest haul since 1998.

This year’s biggest cocaine seizures, after the Clondalkin haul, were:

19kg in Donabate, north Dublin, along with processing equipment, by the GNDU on July 6.

16kg in Lucan, Dublin, by National Bureau of Criminal Investigation on May 14.

13kg in Dublin Airport by customs on December 16.

10kg in Ballysimon, Limerick, by the Limerick Drugs Unit on September 5.

Irish and European research suggests the majority of cocaine users are recreational users, with a smaller percentage taking the drug regularly or heavily.

But separate reports published last July recorded a doubling in cocaine use among treated drug users in Dublin and a six-fold increase in new cocaine treatment cases outside Dublin.

“Prior to 2001, it was very rare we got positive cocaine samples in urine analysis, now we see them all the time,” said Dr Patrick Troy, who treats drug users in the Dublin health boards and the South Eastern Health Board.

He said these users were initially heroin addicts, but were now injecting cocaine as well.

Dr Troy said the biggest problem they were seeing was deep venous thrombosis, causing blood clots. He said they had a number of cases of addicts losing limbs.

He said there was no treatment for cocaine.

“Users are developing a lot of psychosis, anxiety, depression, paranoia. You can begin to treat some smaller symptoms such as depression, but you can’t treat the overall withdrawals.”

Dr Troy said the addiction for cocaine, particularly crack, was so strong, that people were clocking up debt.

“Any bit of money you have you’ll hand it out on the spot. Men, in particular, don’t have that much more to offer. Girls do, through prostitution. They offer themselves in lieu.”