Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04DUBLIN1815
2004-12-20 13:06:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Dublin
Cable title:  

IRELAND: 2004-2005 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL

Tags:  SNAR EI 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBLIN 001815 

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y //TEXT PT. III//

INL
EUR/UBI
JUSTICE FOR OIA, AFMLS, NDDS
TREASURY FOR FINCEN
DEA FOR OILS AND OFFICE OF DIVERSION CONTROL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR EISNAR
SUBJECT: IRELAND: 2004-2005 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL
STRATEGY REPORT (INSCR) PART I

REF: STATE 248987

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBLIN 001815

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y //TEXT PT. III//

INL
EUR/UBI
JUSTICE FOR OIA, AFMLS, NDDS
TREASURY FOR FINCEN
DEA FOR OILS AND OFFICE OF DIVERSION CONTROL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR EISNAR
SUBJECT: IRELAND: 2004-2005 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL
STRATEGY REPORT (INSCR) PART I

REF: STATE 248987


1. Please see below outline for post's submission as chapter
for 2004-2005 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report
(INSCR) Part I.


I. Summary

The Republic of Ireland is not a transshipment point for
narcotics to the United States, nor is it a hub for
international drug trafficking. According to Government of
Ireland (GOI) officials, overall drug use in Ireland
continues to remain steady, with the exception of cocaine
use, which doubled over the last two years. Seizures have
also increased as traffickers attempt to import drugs in
larger quantities. The GOI's National Drug Strategy is to
significantly reduce drug consumption through a concerted
focus on supply reduction, prevention, treatment, and
research. In 2004, the GOI signed the European Arrests
Warrant Act 2003, allowing Irish police to have suspects
detained by foreign police and extradited to Ireland for
trial, and the Criminal Justice Act, enabling Irish
authorities to investigate international criminality with EU
member states. Ireland is a party to the 1988 UN Drug
Convention.

II. Status of Country

Ireland is not a transit point for drugs to the United
States; it is occasionally used as a transit point for
narcotics trafficking to other parts of Europe, including
across its land border to Northern Ireland. Ireland is not a
significant source of illicit narcotics, though in a single
raid in May, officials found a quantity of precursors
intended to manufacture around euro 500 million worth of
ecstasy and amphetamines.

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2004

Policy Initiatives. The GOI continued with drug abuse
strategies it established in its National Drug Strategy for
2001-2008. Its goal is to "to significantly reduce the harm
caused to individuals and society by the misuse of drugs
through a concerted focus on supply reduction, prevention,
treatment and research." By 2003, substance abuse programs
were a part of every school curriculum in the country and the
GOI launched the National Awareness Campaign on Drugs. The
campaign featured television and radio advertising, and
lectures by police, supported by an information brochure and
website, all designed to promote greater awareness and
communication about the drug issue in Ireland. Regional Drug

Tasks Forces (RDTF),set up to examine drug issues in local
areas, were fully operational throughout the country. The GOI
established a review procedure to measure how effectively
each department in the government is internally implementing
the National Drug Strategy. The GOI will release the results
and recommendations of this review in April 2005.

Accomplishments. Seizures in 2003 totaled euro 121 million,
three times the goal set in the National Drug Strategy,
2001-2008. The Justice Minister attributed this both to the
increase in usage and improvements in law enforcement. The
Irish Police continued to cooperate closely with other
national police forces. On December 12, after eight months of
coordination among forces from the United Kingdom, Spain, the
Netherlands, and Ireland, authorities cracked down on a major
drug smuggling gang. This gang is suspected of supplying
cocaine to most of the drug users in Dublin and Limerick.
This investigation is still in progress.

Law Enforcement Efforts. Official statistics are not yet
available for 2004 but the Garda confirmed that
drug-related arrests remained constant over the previous
three years (approximately 450 arrests per year by the
National Drug Unit),and most drug-related
arrests were for possession. Cannabis was the drug most often
seized, followed by heroin, ecstasy and then cocaine. The
value of seized drugs for 2003 was euro 121 million.

Official statistics for 2004 are not yet available, but
highlights of key raids, arrests and prosecutions include the
January seizure of 500,000 ecstasy tablets worth a street
value of euro 5 million. Also, in January, police seized 80
kilograms of Khat, worth euro 200,000. In February, local
police, supported by the National Drugs Unit, seized eight
kilos of cocaine estimated at euro 800,000. In March, Irish
police raided a cocaine-processing plant, recovering euro
50,000 worth of contraband, and in another raid, police
seized euro 400,000 worth of cocaine. The same month, the
INL
EUR/UBI
JUSTICE FOR OIA, AFMLS, NDDS
TREASURY FOR FINCEN
DEA FOR OILS AND OFFICE OF DIVERSION CONTROL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR EISNAR
SUBJECT: IRELAND: 2004-2005 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL
STRATEGY REPORT (INSCR) PART I

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jailed a South African resident
for three years for smuggling euro 30,000 worth of cannabis
and an Irish citizen was sentenced for seven years for
possession of euro 150,000 worth of cocaine and ecstasy. An
April seizure netted 88 kilos of cannabis, estimated at a
value of euro 1.14 million. In May, officials found a
quantity of precursors intended to manufacture around euro
500 million worth of ecstasy and amphetamines. Officials
tracked chemicals shipments from southern China, to Rotterdam
and then on to Ireland. In June, police seized over euro 1
million in cocaine from drug gangs. On November 4, an
American citizen was arrested at Dublin airport for smuggling
4 kilos of cocaine from Lagos via Paris. Her case is pending
criminal proceedings. On December 16, in three operations,
Irish police seized up to euro 16 million in cocaine. An
arrest was made of a Nigerian national attempting to smuggle
14.5 kilos into Dublin airport. Another unrelated arrest
during a raid resulted in the seizure of up to 60 kilos.
Under the Drugs Trafficking Act, the suspect can be held
without charge for a maximum of seven days.

Corruption. There were no verifiable instances of police or
other official corruption related to drug activities in 2004.

Agreements and Treaties. The United States and Ireland signed
a mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) in January 2001,
which was ratified by the Senate in 2003 and is awaiting
ratification by the GOI. An extradition treaty between
Ireland and the United States is currently in force.

Ireland is a party to the 1998 UN Drug Convention, the 1961
UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as amended by the
1972 Protocol, and the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic
Substances. Ireland has signed, but not yet ratified, the UN
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons. In June, the Irish government signed the Criminal
Justice Act of 2004 into law, enabling authorities across EU
states to investigate international crimes. In January, the
European Arrests Warrant Act of 2003 became law, allowing for
foreign arrests and extradition.

Cultivation/Production. Only small amounts of cannabis are
cultivated in Ireland. With the exception of the precursor
chemicals seized in May, there is no evidence that synthetic
drugs are being produced domestically.

Drug Flow/Transit. Among drug abusers in Ireland, cocaine,
cannabis, amphetamines, ecstasy (MDMA),and heroin are the
drugs of choice. Cocaine comes primarily from Colombia and
other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Heroin,
cocaine, ecstasy, and cannabis are often packed into cars in
either Spain or the Netherlands and then brought into Ireland
for distribution around the country. This distribution
network is controlled by 6 to 12 Irish criminal gangs based
in Spain and the Netherlands. Herbal cannabis is primarily
imported from South Africa.

Domestic Programs (Demand Reduction). There are 7,100
treatment sites for opiate addiction, exceeding the GOI's
National Drug Strategy target of 6,500 treatment places. The
Strategy also mandates that each area Health Board have in
place a number of treatment and rehabilitation options. For
heroin addicts, there are 65 methadone treatment locations.
Most clients of treatment centers are Ireland's approximately
14,500 heroin addicts, 12,400 of which live in Dublin. In
2004, the GOI undertook an evaluation of drug treatment
centers' ability to cope with the leveling off of heroin use
and the increase of other drugs. The review is due in early

2005.

IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs

U.S. Policy Initiatives. In 2004, the United States continued
legal and policy cooperation with the GOI, and benefited from
Irish cooperation with U.S. law enforcement agencies such as
the DEA. Information sharing, and joint operations and
investigations between U.S. and Irish officials continued to
strengthen ties between the countries.

The Road Ahead. U.S. support for Ireland's counternarcotics
program, along with U.S. and Irish cooperative efforts,
continue to work to prevent Ireland from becoming a transit
point for narcotics trafficking to the United States.
KENNY