Pubdate: Wed, 08 Mar 2000 Source: Examiner, The (Ireland) Copyright: Examiner Publications Ltd, 2000 Contact: http://www.examiner.ie/ NEW EXTRADITION MEASURES BOOST TO OUR DRUG WAR MOVES to extradite known drug barons to Ireland from safe havens in Spain, Holland or other EU states, will send out a deafening message that criminals who flee this jurisdiction can no longer evade justice. Up to now, difficulties faced in bringing key players in the drug trade to book have been exacerbated because they have been able to protect their ill gotten gains. By moving freely from country to country, they effectively put themselves beyond the reach of the law, preventing their assets being seized. Because of the enormous damage which drugs inflict on society, there can be no let up in the ongoing war against this illicit trade. Significantly, under new legislation being put in place by Justice Minister O'Donoghue, people involved in drug smuggling and who seek refuge in EU countries will in future face extradition to Ireland. White collar criminals, including tax cheats, will also be subject to extradition under new conventions covering inter EU State extradition. Closing this international loophole will open the door for agencies like the Criminal Assets Bureau to seize the ill gotten gains of those who prey on the most vulnerable elements of society. Since its inception less than four years ago, the CAB has proved highly effective in carrying out its important role of confiscating, freezing or seizing criminal assets amounting to almost pounds 11 million by 1998. In the wake of a massive garda blitz on the criminal underworld following the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, many of the country's leading drug barons fled this country, moving their wealth and their bases of operation to Amsterdam and Spain. But in a trade which spans the globe, Ireland is still a major back door for smuggling drugs into Europe. The full extent of the problem was graphically illustrated last year when cocaine worth pounds 41 million was seized off the south coast. Following a haul of pounds 88 million worth of cocaine three years earlier, it was the second biggest seizure in the history of the State. Hopefully, the new extradition measures will prove to be a major deterrent, sending out a definite message to drug barons who see Ireland as a target for profiting at the expense of people whose lives are poisoned by the cancer of drug addiction. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake