Crystal meth warning after record Cork seizure of 'America's most dangerous drug'

A teenage girl smoking crystal meth by 'cooking' it in a pipe in Queens, New York. Experts have told the 'Irish Examiner' that meth is relatively rare in Ireland but warn that it could become a major issue. File picture: Scott Houston/Sygma/Corbis

Nicknamed ‘America’s most dangerous drug’, methamphetamine or crystal meth is a highly addictive and destructive drug that has laid waste to many US communities, with mortality rates increasing 50-fold between 1999 and 2021, from 608 to 52,397.

Its use has led to huge increases in petty and serious crime in several US states, most of them in poorer regions, with public health experts saying there are no signs of it abating.

And while there have been some seizures of the synthetic drug here over the last 10 to 15 years and several warnings about the dangers it poses, it has yet to take a foothold.

Just last April, the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use heard a warning from Eoghan Quigley of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)  about a potential increase in the use of methamphetamine in Europe, with the continent now a major producer of the drug. 

Record amounts of methamphetamine have been seized on the main heroin trafficking routes towards Europe from Afghanistan, as production of the drug has increased there, he said.

A white van escorted by two Garda Armed Response Unit cars leaving the container terminal at Ringaskiddy, Co Cork at around 5pm on Friday afternoon after the drugs seizure. Picture: Larry Cummins

But most people’s experience of it here is confined to the hit US television series Breaking Bad, featuring fictional chemistry teacher turned drug maker, Walter White, cooking his meth in a high-tech homemade lab in New Mexico.

However, Friday’s massive seizure of the drug in the Port of Cork has set alarm bells ringing among those working in law enforcement and in addiction services.

Gardaí and Revenue said investigations are ongoing as they try to establish the source and destination of the drug.

Those in addiction services are waiting anxiously to see if this was attempt to flood Ireland with the drug, or if it was seized in transit along one of the routes used by international drug smugglers.

There is also the distant possibility that the drug could have been manufactured here, and this was an audacious export attempt.

Whatever emerges, a record haul of the drug has been taken out of circulation.

First major seizure in 2008

There have been some garda seizures of the drug over the years, with the first major seizure in Birr in 2008, prompting a warning from the then garda commissioner, Fachtna Murphy.

Then Garda commissioner Fachtna Murphy and defence minister Willie O'Dea speaking at the garda graduation ceremony at Templemore on July 31, 2008, about the first major find of methamphetamine. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

“I want to plead and to ask the public, nurses, doctors, teachers, parents, anybody who has information to report it to ensure this scourge of a drug doesn’t come into this jurisdiction,” he said at the time.

“I want to ensure that this doesn’t creep into this country. It is my understanding that that is a very addictive drug and the mortality rate amongst addicts is very high, worse than heroin and that’s saying something.”

And while other seizures have followed over the years, the quantity and value of yesterday’s seizure is likely to eclipse all previous seizures.

What is methamphetamine?  

So why is it so dangerous and why is it labelled “the most destructive drug”?

Crystal meth can be smoked, injected, snorted or swallowed, and its effects last up to 10 hours, almost 10 times longer than cocaine.

It has a particularly dangerous set of complex medical side effects, even with short-term usage, which can be significantly magnified, with hyper-stimulation, risk of paranoia and violence, toxic effects on the heart, and, unlike cocaine, there is neurotoxicity — nerve damage.

David Lane, the HSE’s head of drug and alcohol services in Cork and Kerry: 'Powder cocaine is the number one issue we have but we can’t be complacent.' Picture: Gerard McCarthy 

Meth’s main effect is on the dopamine receptors in the brain, meaning that meth use often stimulates feelings of reward, motivation and generally pleasant sensations — the sensations that users are typically chasing.

However, with increased frequency of use, it can be harder to achieve these sensations as the body becomes more tolerant, and that means more meth is needed for the body to feel the effect, leading to addiction and dependency.

David Lane, the HSE’s head of drug and alcohol services in Cork and Kerry, said their services have only encountered a handful of crystal meth cases annually.

“Powder cocaine is the number one issue we have but we can’t be complacent,” he said.

No city, no region is immune to new trends, and we are always on alert about what’s happening in vulnerable populations.

“But for any new drug to take hold, you have to have a market.

“We have people engaging with vulnerable drug users and through our homeless outreach work on a daily basis, seven days a week, so we get a very good sense of what’s happening on the ground.

“And from what we are hearing, in general, people aren’t looking for crystal meth.

“Our finger is very much on the pulse across the region. It’s important that we maintain that.”

Addiction counsellor Michael Guerin said that while he has seen only a handful of cases of crystal meth addiction over his 20 years in addiction services, those caught in its addictive grip have had their lives destroyed physically, mentally and psychologically.

“The biggest problem we have is crack cocaine, heroin, and free base cocaine [powder],” he said.

But people addicted to cocaine can often chase a more intense high and often ‘graduate’ to crystal meth because they say it creates more intense feelings of euphoria and invincibility.

“There is not a lot of it around and it certainly isn’t mainstream in Ireland.

“Many of those I would have seen are immigrants who would have developed their dependency while overseas and who are now living here.

“But to see this amount of the drug seized here in Ireland is very worrying indeed.

“If it takes hold here, it would only compound what is already an unmanageable situation, where treatment services are over-run and overwhelmed with people aged from 18 to 50 seeking help for alcohol and cocaine dependency.”

Previous crystal meth finds 

2008: The Garda National Drugs Unit and customs seize almost 5kg of powder methamphetamine in Birr, Co Offaly, from a Lithuanian gang.

2009: Gardaí in Tralee, Co Kerry, make three seizures of crystal meth, including one haul worth €7,500.

2011: Customs and gardaí intercept 2.5kg of the drug, with an estimated street value of €250,000, at Dublin Airport. The haul is discovered when customs officers stop a 39-year-old man from Lesotho, Africa, and find the drugs concealed in the framework of two suitcases.

August 2012:  Gardaí find €8,000 worth of the drug in a lab in Tralee, and arrest an Eastern European man.

April 2013: Customs staff at Dublin Airport become suspicious of a wood carving that was due to be exported to Asia. The thick frame had a hollow back covered with timber slots. When they open it they find four packages, weighing 660g, on methamphetamine, in powder form. A customs spokesman confirmed the haul at Dublin Airport was the first seizure of the drug being exported.

December 2020:  Gardaí in Ballymun arrest a woman in connection with a Revenue operation resulting in the seizure of 3kg of crystal meth, with an estimated value of €180,000, at Dublin Airport.

June 2020:  Gardaí in Roscrea arrest two people after seizing €200 of suspected crystal meth during the search of a house. A juvenile, in his mid-teens, is among those arrested.