Community workers welcome drug sting

COMMUNITY drug workers have welcomed the international operation against the Christy Kinahan drugs syndicate.

They said the wealth linked to the gang – reputed by Spanish police to be almost €700 million so far – was “mind boggling”.

However, they warned that while the effect on drug supplies into Ireland could be significant, it may be short-lived, and other Irish importers in Spain and the Netherlands are likely to “step up” and fill the gap.

Tony Geoghegan of Merchants Quay Ireland, a long-time worker in the drugs field, said the scale of the network being unravelled was shocking.

“I was taken aback by it, it was like something from a John Grisham novel. The scale is hard to comprehend.

“When you look at the global network and the business, it’s hard to believe.

“People would also be amazed at the wealth and money they have. You see the pictures of cars and villas. It boggles people.

“Equally, young criminals will look at that and say ‘I want a piece of that’.”

Mr Geoghegan said people affected by drugs here will be heartened by the operation.

“It sends a very positive message to communities and people, that these guys do get their comeuppance, that there is justice out there.”

He said the impact on the drugs market here was hard to predict: “I’d imagine with something like this, it may take a while before the impact is felt.”

He added: “Are there other serious players out there who could step up to the mark, in Spain or in Holland? It’s probable that will happen.”

Cieran Perry of the Coalition of Communities Against Drugs (COCAD), which confronted dealers head-on in the 1990s, said he was “amazed and delighted” by the operation.

“His name [Kinahan’s] has come up a lot recently, over all the publicity by the media and police over the murder of someone like [Eamon] Dunne, when serious players are away and didn’t appear to be hassled.”

He said he appreciated the operation would have taken two years, but said it showed what the gardaí “can do when they put their attention to it”.

An independent councillor on Dublin City Council, Mr Perry said the wealth of the gang was “mind boggling”, but said a well-known criminal family in Dublin city, with paramilitary connections, also enjoyed massive wealth.

Mr Perry said the operation “punctures a hole in the supply line” said that hopefully it would inflict damage on the trade, if even for a short time.

“You would expect to see some sort of drought, but not for that long. Other suppliers may step up.”

Daithí Doolan of the CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign said: “We would welcome any Garda initiative that would impact on the supply of drugs, but we must remember the Government are cutting back on drug services on the ground.”