Cocaine convictions - Insatiable appetites

YESTERDAY afternoon’s conviction of three men — a fourth man had earlier pleaded guilty — in the Dunlough Bay cocaine case raises serious concerns for us all.

The scale of the seizure — 1.5 tonnes — made it one of the 10 largest cocaine hauls in the world last year. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime suggestion that Ireland is not considered a centre for redistribution indicates a huge domestic demand.

Our annual cocaine total for 2007 — 1.75kg — was compared to the 2006 totals of 31 European countries. Ireland had the sixth highest figure. An island of just 4.2 million people had more cocaine seized than Germany (population: 82m) and nearly half that of Britain (61m).