Garda Commissioner warns against potentially lethal drugs entering Ireland

Commissioner Harris said: “Afghanistan as a centre of production is nearly diminished to zero and that means that these artificial drugs are displacing that market and they are extremely dangerous. Picture: David Creedon

The Garda Commissioner has flagged concerns about the emergence of potentially lethal nitazenes, as further overdoses from the drug have been reported in the southeast of the country.

The HSE confirmed that a number of overdoses believed to be linked to the deadly drug have occurred in the southeast recently, following on from similar incidents in Limerick, Galway, and Dublin, earlier this month. Late last year, there were 77 overdoses in Dublin and Cork linked to the nitazenes, which are many times more powerful than heroin.