Heroin blamed for eight deaths in Kerry town in two years

At least seven people have died from heroin and opiate use in just two years in the Co Kerry town of Tralee.

The body of Natasha Donovan, 26, was found by relatives at the apartment in Boherbee on Thursday night. She had not been seen since Tuesday.

Heroin and drugs paraphernalia was found near her and although an autopsy has yet to be conducted, gardaí say they are not treating her death as suspicious.

Sgt Declan Liddane, head of the divisional drugs unit, said yesterday that gardaí are extremely concerned about heroin and opiate use in the town and the wider Tralee area, which has a population of about 23,000. He said gardaí are monitoring drug use “on a daily basis”.

At least six people are being pursued through the courts and the use and seizures of heroin is falling.

Sgt Liddane said gardaí are also putting considerable resources into the detection of heroin and crystal meth.

The mixing of prescription drugs such as Valium and Xanax with methadone and heroin is responsible for some of the deaths in Tralee, gardaí say.

They have had some success in tackling the drugs issue in the past two years, including raiding a crystal meth lab in a back street in the town.

As part of a separate seizure, Darren Bustard, aged 22, was convicted at Tralee District Court on Thursday of possession of a small quantity of the substance. He had denied the white substance, found alongside him in a field near his home Cahermoneen, Tralee, was his and told gardaí it was amphetamine.

Meanwhile, Austin Stacks player Don Quinn was due to be sentenced yesterday for dealing cocaine. The case was adjourned to next month.

Seán Dowling, aged 22, of Ballymacquinn, Ardfert, a student at University Limerick and a member of the Kerry panel, is serving a jail term after pleading guilty to having ecstasy tablets and cannabis on the grounds of the Causeway GAA club.

Elsewhere, a 67-year-old man, William Lamb, with an address in North Cork, is to be sentenced next month after he pleaded guilty to importation of cocaine at Kerry Airport in January.

However, the main worry for the local drugs unit is the scourge of heroin, which has only manifested itself in recent years, gardaí say.