Cork TD warns that people are taking their own lives 'due to drug-debt intimidation'

Thomas Gould says he knows of three young men who died by suicide after being intimidated by drug dealers

Sinn Féin TD for Cork North-Central, Thomas Gould, said many instances of drug-related intimidation are likely to be going unreported as people are afraid to go to the gardaí. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA
 

People are dying by suicide due to the terror and trauma of drug-related intimidation, a Cork TD has warned, with an increase in recorded instances of the crime this year.

Drug-related intimidation crimes rose to 500 incidents by December 19 this year, according to garda figures — up from 458 incidents in 2022.