Pubdate: Sun, 08 Jul 2001
Source: Sunday Independent (Ireland)
Copyright: 2001 Independent Newspapers Ltd
Contact:  http://www.independent.ie/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/434

DRUG 'MULES' ARE JUST DOWN  ON THEIR LUCK

A woman has told gardai that she got involved in the flourishing drug trade 
between Ireland and Africa to raise enough money to send her son to a good 
school.

Gardai say that most of the 'mules' who courier drugs for mainly Nigerian 
gangs are not career criminals  just  individuals who are down on their 
luck and need some extra  funds.

So far this year, 16 South African nationals have been arrested at Dublin 
Airport for importing drugs into Ireland.  The same figure for the whole of 
last year was 12 and this  increase is beginning to worry gardai who are 
attempting to crack down on the escalating drug trade between South Africa 
and Ireland's capital city.

The trade has become a multi-million pound business, with  the Nigerian 
gangs taking over the Irish cannabis trade.  Within the past week alone, a 
28-year-old South African woman arrested at Dublin Airport was found with 
15  kilograms of cannabis which had a street value of pounds 30,000,  while 
a 25-year-old South African man had pounds 40,000 worth of the drug.

The 28-year-old was the seventh South African woman to be arrested and 
charged with the importation of drugs since the beginning of this year, 
while the 25-year-old was the ninth South African man to be arrested in the 
same period.

For each trip, the individual  the 'drug mule'  is paid 10,000 Rand between 
pounds 1000 and pounds 1,250.
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MAP posted-by: Beth