China's Execution Of A Man Convicted Of Breaking The Law Is Not Earth-Shattering News, Writes Eilis O'Hanlon AKMAL Shaikh is -- or rather, was -- the first European citizen to be executed in China in 50 years. During that time, the Chinese authorities have done to death tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of their own citizens without provoking a fraction of the same outrage which the death by lethal injection of this 53- year-old father of five, convicted two years ago of smuggling heroin into the country and finally executed last week, brought in its wake. [continues 1011 words]
Described in the past as 'the most sophisticated drugs baron of all time', An Grianan Theatre will welcome Howard Marks to Letterkenny this Friday for An Audience With Mr Nice. Busted in 1988 by the American Drug Enforcement Agency and sentenced to 25 years in prison for drug smuggling, Howard Marks has become a best-selling internationally published writer and columnist since receiving parole in 1995 after serving seven years. Howard has worked with the British Secret Service and has been connected with the Mafia, the IRA, MI6 and the CIA. He's a real gentleman and you will like him. [continues 819 words]
Killing Surge As Gang Struggles To Repay $50m Lost In Cocaine Seizure A Massive drug debt, estimated at up to $50m, owed by Ireland's leading drugs syndicate to the Colombian cocaine cartels prompted last week's $7.9m robbery at the Bank of Ireland in Dublin and is fuelling the latest wave of gangland killings in the city, it has emerged. The Dublin gang behind the shipment which was intercepted by the Naval Service off the west coast last November is said to be desperate to raise the huge bill amid suspicions that the Colombians and major drugs gangs in Britain are threatening retribution. [continues 598 words]
Suspicion Grows That Heroin Dealer Was 'Permitted' To Import Hard Drugs The Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) is examining scores of drug seizures, arrests and covert operations involving Kieran Boylan, a convicted heroin dealer whose relationship with the force is the subject of a collusion inquiry following an expose by The Sunday Times. The garda ombudsman now suspects that Boylan was "permitted" to import huge quantities of heroin, cocaine and cannabis, which he supplied to low-level dealers, who were later arrested, while he continued to wholesale drugs to other criminal gangs. [continues 383 words]
In Ways, It'S the Harshest Lesson of All for Any Athlete Outside the Sporting Arena; the Difference Between Having Fun and Being Smart, Writes Ian O'Riordan EVEN BY their own, often debasing, standards, it was difficult to fault the headline the News of the World ran last Sunday next to the picture of Michael Phelps puffing heavily on a bong of marijuana: "What A Dope." Whether he was inhaling - and Phelps has been cute enough to neither confirm nor deny that - it is proving a harsh lesson for the young man who made Olympic history in Beijing last August. [continues 1196 words]
CASES involving almost €4m worth of seized illegal drugs have gone before the Children's Court in the past year. Some of the defendants were as young as 13. In one of the cases, a boy caught carrying crack cocaine for a Dublin gang escaped prosecution because of his tender age. Also in the past year, four children were charged with murder. Several were charged with possession of deadly weapons. Such is 21st-century life on the streets of our major cities. Potentially useful young people are spotted by gangsters, who can pick and choose because there is no shortage of recruits. The children are employed as drugs couriers. If caught, they may go free because of their age, or be placed in care for their own safety. [continues 126 words]
A new report highlighting drug prevention and education amongst Travellers was launched on Wednesday by the Wicklow Travellers Group at the CEART Centre, Crinion Park. 'An Analysis of Need for a Drugs Strategy' was researched and written up by Dr. Mairin Kenny, along with other researchers involved with the Co. Wicklow Primary Healthcare Project. The East Coast Regional Drugs Task Force provided the funding. One recommendation is that now would be an ideal time for the Wicklow Travellers Group to carry out drug prevention and education programmes and activities. [continues 126 words]
NOBODY IS safe in a society where drug gangs fight for control of lucrative markets. And the recession is likely to contribute to an increase in crime. But rather than respond in a knee-jerk fashion to demands for an increase in Garda overtime, longer prison sentences and more draconian legislation, we should concentrate on what can be done with existing resources and on how the community can be motivated to fight against crime. In that regard, active co-operation by law-abiding citizens with An Garda Siochana is one of the most important elements in crime prevention and detection. [continues 419 words]
INTERVIEW : Although successes continue in the fight against crime, the commissioner is concerned by a rise in gangland violence IRELAND IS becoming a more violent country with more people than ever willing to resort to fatal shootings or stabbings to settle drug-related or personal disputes, Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy has said. Recent murders committed by teenagers were an indication that the age profile of some of those engaging in extreme violence was getting lower. In an interview, Murphy said that, although gangland murders were proving difficult to solve, the force was enjoying very considerable success fighting the drugs trade. [continues 731 words]
Two Others Are Critical After Spate of Shootings A notorious drug trafficker was shot dead and two other men left critically injured in a series of shooting attacks in Dublin last night. In a major escalation of violence in the capital, the three men were shot in two separate attacks in Summerhill in the inner city, and in Swords, less then two hours apart. The first hit, at 8.40pm at Langrishe Place, Summerhill, took out major gangland figure Michael 'Roly' Cronin (35) and left his companion on a life support machine in a Dublin hospital. [continues 988 words]
That there could be as many as 200 people in Mullingar using heroin is a shock. But to anyone who sits in a regular basis in Mullingar courthouse, it's probably less of a shock than to most people. At every court sitting in Mullingar, there are appearances by people caught in possession of drugs - and by people in possession of drugs with intent to sell them or supply them to others. Discussion on Ireland's drug problem has taken something of a back seat in the wake of our plummeting financial situation, which has, for a year now, dominated the headlines. In fact, one might even have thought that the drugs problem had more or less gone away. [continues 390 words]
The Midland Regional Drugs Task Force (MRDTF) has applied for a mobile needle exchange and is calling for the creation of rehabilitation clinics for the region in 2009. There could be between 150 and 200 people using heroin in Mullingar, Open Door Project's Lead Addiction Counsellor told the Westmeath Examiner this week. "I suspect it is somewhere in the region of 150 heroin users in Mullingar, possibly 150 to 200," said Mr Declan Hughes who works on a daily basis with addicts at the drop-in-centre. [continues 735 words]
The brutal murder of a 24 year old local man just days after Christmas has brought home to many the harsh reality that the violence associated with the drugs culture has arrived in Dundalk. Up until now drug motivated killings was seen as something which was part of the gangland feuds in Dublin and Limerick, not something which would happen in a relatively peaceful provincial town like Dundalk. There have been drugs related deaths in Dundalk in the past, from overdoses, accidental or otherwise, and from illnesses associated with drug abuse. But this is believed to be the first time that anyone has been killed because of their involvement in the shady world of drug dealing. [continues 1149 words]
GARDAI are to consider the use of satellite or aircraft infrared detection after discovering that marijuana-growing operations are sprouting up all over the country. So far at least five of the operations have been uncovered -- but gardai believe there may be dozens or even a 100 more. The marijuana cultivation operations have come to light following a major operation by the PSNI which uncovered 65 of the cultivation operations run from rented houses in the North. Sources say satellite infrared technology was used there and in Britain. Gardai are not certain if there is any direction connection between the home-growing operations in the Britain and in Ireland. [continues 602 words]
This year can be defined by the increase in the number of children involved in the most violent crimes imaginable writes Conor Lally WITH FATAL shootings having reached 20 for only the second time ever in the Republic this year, it is difficult to choose the acts of violence that were the most repugnant. But because of the savage way they died, the names of Pawel Kalite, Marius Szwajkos, Shane Geoghegan and most recently Aidan O'Kane lodge most clearly in the memory. [continues 1101 words]
When Spanish law enforcement officers commandeered a 40-foot yacht off the Galician coast last August, they praised the assistance of law enforcement agencies across Europe who had helped lead them to the 3.8 tonnes of cannabis resin on board. But what the officer in charge didn't mention was that the intelligence which led to the seizure - described as a "major operation" against hashish smuggling in the EU - had come directly from Irish customs sources. During 2008, Irish-led intelligence played a key role in seizures, not just at home, but also in a number of operations against Dutch, Spanish and African drug gangs importing narcotics to continental Europe. [continues 1295 words]
On a crisp morning in November, the streets of Limerick came to a standstill. Gaunt young men in smart rugby blazers stood grief-stricken, seething and sickened by the senseless killing of a local hero. Others held placards with one simple word that summed up the mood of the nation. "Enough." Shane Geoghegan's murder shook the country to its core. An innocent bystander entangled in the bloody feuds that haunt his native town, he didn't stand a chance against the hooded killer who stalked him as he walked home in the early hours of a Sunday morning after watching a rugby match with friends. [continues 950 words]
OUTSPOKEN District Court judge Michael Pattwell has hit out at drug users saying they must take "a degree of responsibility" for the spate of drug related murders that have taken place across Ireland. Judge Pattwell was speaking during last Friday's sitting of Mitchelstown District Court, after three men in their mid 20s with Limerick addresses appeared before him on charges of possession of drug(s). Paul Hogan and Johnny O'Donnell from Kilmallock and Patrick Hanley from Ballylanders, were hit with fines of between EU150 and EU250 for possession of cannabis at a house in Mitchelstown. [continues 227 words]
GARDAI INVESTIGATING the suspected sale of illegal drugs over the counter in shops have raided 22 premises across the country in a co-ordinated operation led by the Garda National Drugs Unit (GNDU). The investigation, codenamed Operation Fluorine, targeted so-called "head shops", which sell products billed as natural highs. The shops were raided yesterday starting at noon in counties Dublin, Cork, Galway, Louth, Laois, Longford, Westmeath, Tipperary and Kildare. A large quantity of merchandise was taken away and will be analysed to see if it contains ingredients based on illegal drugs. If prohibited substances are found the owners of the businesses where they were on sale face prosecution under the Misuse of Drugs Act. [continues 295 words]
LIMERICK'S gang feud yesterday claimed the life of a rugby captain who was gunned down in cold blood after he was mistaken for a big-time drugs importer who had moved into his neighbourhood. Shane Geoghegan, aged 28, described as "one of the brightest and the best" died in a hale of bullets at around 1.30am. It is believed he was struck up to 10 times. Members of the McCarthy/Dundon gang are the main suspects. It is believed they went to kill a drugs importer who supplies the rival Keane/Collopy gang but got the wrong man. [continues 460 words]
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