Crime figures: Dozens of drug factories shut down

DOZENS of drug factories have been shut down by gardaí who last year targeted peddlers fuelling the industry.

Some 219 people were caught growing or mixing supplies in 2008, with more than 4,300 dealers charged.

Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy maintained priority would continue to be given to tackling drug crime.

“By targeting drug crime, we can have an impact across all crime categories from serious violent crime through to thefts, robberies and public order,” said the commissioner.

The Central Statistics Office’s recorded crime incidents for 2008 found:

* Overall drug offences jumped by 25% to 23,306.

* 18,000 people were caught with drugs for personal use.

* 67 smugglers were detected.

* The number of motorists caught driving after taking drugs more than doubled from 258 to 588.

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said the huge rise in successful raids on drugs factories were predominantly the result of Garda detections, rather than reports.

But Labour’s justice spokesman Pat Rabbitte argued the drugs problem in communities around the country is getting worse.

“The huge profits to be made from the drugs industry feed the deadly cycle of gang violence,” said Mr Rabbitte. “While drug seizures have increased significantly, the fact of the matter is that the quantity of drugs seized is estimated to represent as little as 10% of the amount that actually gets through for sale on our streets.”

Elsewhere the CSO revealed murders and manslaughters dropped from 84 to 52 in the year, while deaths by dangerous driving plummeted by half to 24.

It also showed 75 kidnappings and abductions (including tiger kidnappings of bank staff). Car jackings, extortion rackets, and robberies (particularly cash-in-transit raids) rose to 2,307.

Rapes dropped slightly, while sexual assaults rose.

Figures revealed thefts jumped to 76,789 and burglaries rose to 24,624 while deception and fraud cases dropped to 5,378.

On average, there were 145 disorderly conduct offences per day in 2008.

And more than 11,600 suspects committed offences while in custody or on bail.

Fine Gael Justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan said the figures mask antisocial behaviour problems and said a cut in Garda overtime and a freeze on civilian recruitment will mean fewer officers on the beat.

“Many people endure harassment campaigns from young thugs and are afraid to report incidents to the gardaí,” said Mr Flanagan.

“The often unreported aspects of antisocial behaviour include boy racers careering through quiet neighbourhoods late at night, houses being pelted with eggs and young thugs behaving menacingly towards the vulnerable in our communities.

“The real story of people’s lives is not captured by the numbers emerging from the CSO. The danger is that we will lapse into a false mindset that leads us to accept intolerable levels of safety in our society.”