Local groups welcome operation targeting drug dealers

LOCAL political, business and drug groups yesterday welcomed a major Garda operation targeting drug dealers in Dublin city centre.

Some 80 dealers — of all ranks — were arrested between Monday and Wednesday as part of Operation Feeder.

Some 120 charges are being brought against them and gardaí expect to arrest a further 30 to 40 people.

Gardaí said two inner city gangs were “severely disrupted or dismantled” with multiple arrests of senior members of those outfits.

The arrests included one family-run gang in the Oliver Bond flats complex in the south inner city. Several brothers in this family are facing several charges.

Unlike previous similar initiatives, Feeder targeted dealers in all roles from street level to middle ranking and senior levels.

“I hope this is just the beginning,” said Kevin Humphreys, Labour councillor for the south-east inner city. “It has been a persistent problem although it has alleviated a certain amount.”

He welcomed the fact that dealing at all levels had been hit. “It has to be at all levels, minor and major. If one supply source stops, street dealers will move to another source, so you have to tackle at all levels.”

He said Dublin City Council had been more “proactive” in combating the issue and seeking exclusion orders.

Cllr Humphreys said there needed to be action to “decentralise methadone dispensing” and said there was an urgent need for more satellite clinics.

Tony Geoghegan, of Merchants Quay, a voluntary treatment centre based on the south quays, also welcomed the operation.

“They help local communities. In some areas, like Oliver Bond and parts of the inner city, there is a lot of open dealing and it undermines local communities, particularly when there is a level of intimidation.

“It sends out a message that’s welcome.”

Tom Coffey of the Dublin City Business Association said: “We support gardaí in any action they take regarding drug dealers. We want our city centre, and all city centres, to be drug free.”

He said the concentration of treatment clinics in the city centre created a “virtual drug slave market for drug lords” and blamed the Department of Health, the HSE and local authorities for this situation.