Pubdate: Sun, 11 Jun 2000
Source: The Sunday Independent (Ireland)
Copyright: Independent Newspapers (Ireland) Ltd
Pubdate: 11 June 2000
Contact:   http://www.independent.ie/
Author: Geraldine Niland

GARDAI CHARGE KILLER HEROIN SUSPECTS

No New Addict Deaths Recorded As Scientists Remain Baffled

Gardai have arrested and charged two dealers in connection with the
supply of rogue heroin which is being linked to the deaths of 29
addicts in Ireland and Britain.

Eight of these deaths have been among heroin users in Dublin, but
there have been no new recorded deaths in the past 10 days, according
to the Eastern Regional Health Authority.

The key question for health authorities and gardai is to establish
whether the rogue heroin was contaminated by a chemical or a bacteria.
The infection causes abscesses and organ failure if untreated within
three days. Heroin addicts, who inject their fix into muscles, are at
risk.

Studies being conducted by public health specialists in Ireland and
Britain have not identified any bacteria which may be responsible.
Tissue samples are also being analysed by the Centre for Disease
Control in Atlanta.

Meanwhile, garda investigators are trying to trace the source of the
heroin through known drug dealers to establish whether the deals used
by the addicts can be traced back to one source. Of the five deaths
recorded in north-west England, one was in Liverpool and four in
Manchester. Both cities are within the supply networks used by heroin
dealers operating in Ireland.

Because no similar cases have been reported in southern England or in
Europe, scientists believe that the heroin was chemically contaminated
after it reached northern Britain or Ireland.

Health authorities continue to warn heroin users about the warning
signs of the infection which begin with the development of an abscess
on the site of the injected heroin. After injecting, the addicts have
reported violent headaches.

Early treatment of the infection is vital to stem organ failure which
occurs three days after the first signs of the infection. In all the
recorded deaths, antibiotics failed to halt the infection.

Warnings about the unidentified infection were first reported by a
Norwegian doctor last April when a heroin addict died in Oslo. Then
doctors in Glasgow began to chronicle the deaths of 16 addicts with
similar case histories at the same time. Since then a further 13 cases
have been identified in Glasgow and Aberdeen.

Meanwhile, the body of slain Dublin drug dealer Derek Dunne has been
flown out of Amsterdam in a covert operation and may be on its way
back to Ireland.

A sophisticated decoy operation was mounted by friends of Dunne (33),
known as Maradona, who was killed by gangsters in Holland last weekend.

His remains were flown into Manchester Airport last Friday morning and
then the coffin was removed by road to Liverpool in the afternoon. His
partner Rachel, who witnessed his brutal death, came out of hiding to
fly with his coffin on British Airways Flight 1625 early on Friday.

His remains spent the day in a cargo warehouse in Manchester Airport
before Liverpool-based undertakers removed it. A decoy hearse reversed
into the cargo bay where Dunne's body was held and the shutters were
lowered. At the same time, a hearse containing his body was driven
away to an unknown destination inLiverpool.

Associates of the dealer believe his family will want to bring him
back to his native city for a private funeral.
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