US embassy cable - 04DUBLIN1815

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, EI 
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