US embassy cable - 05DUBLIN1497

UNCLAS DUBLIN 001497 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INL, EUR/UBI 
JUSTICE FOR OIA, AFMLS AND NDDS 
TREASURY FOR FINCEN 
DEA FOR OIL AND OFFICE OF DIVERSION CONTROL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR, EI 
SUBJECT: IRELAND: 2005-2006 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL 
STRATEGY REPORT (INCSR) PART I 
 
REF: STATE 209561 
 
1.  Please see below outline for post's submission as chapter 
for 2005-2006 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 
(INSCR) Part I.  POC for this report is Tom Rosenberger 
(RosenbergerTM@state.gov). 
 
2.  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 continued its upward trend. Seizures have also 
increased as traffickers attempt to import drugs in larger 
quantities. The GOI's National Drug Strategy aims 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 in close 
cooperation with EU member states. The United States and 
Ireland signed a mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) in 
January 2001, which was ratified by the U.S. in 2003 and by 
the GOI in July 2005. 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, but 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 2004, officials found a quantity of precursors 
intended to manufacture around Euro 500 million worth of 
ecstasy and amphetamines. 
 
III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2005 
 
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 
Task 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 released the results and 
recommendations of this review in June 2005. It found that 49 
of the 100 actions set out in the strategy published in 2001 
are completed or almost so, progress has been made in 45 of 
them, and six need considerably more progress. The review 
made rehabilitation of drug users a fifth pillar of the 
strategy, and recommended greater availability of needle 
exchanges and increased resources for community policing. A 
Working Group was set up to develop a strategy for the 
provision of integrated drug rehabilitation services.  The 
GOI announced a National Drug-Related Deaths Index on 
September 27. The index will provide an accurate estimate of 
people who die directly from drugs and an accurate estimate 
of people who die as a result of the consequences of drug use. 
 
Accomplishments. Seizures in 2003 totaled Euro 121 million, 
three times the goal set in the National Drug Strategy, 
2001-2008. (Figures for 2004 and 2005 are not yet available). 
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 and on June 1, two Irishmen were among 11 people 
arrested in Spain when over four tons of cocaine, worth an 
estimated Euro 330 million, was seized. Authorities believe 
the cocaine was intended for distribution to other European 
countries, including Ireland. 
E 
 
 
Law Enforcement Efforts.  Official statistics are not yet 
available for 2005, but the Irish Police confirmed that 
drug-related arrests remained constant over the previous 
three years. There are normally 7,000-8,000 arrests annually, 
including the approximately 450 arrests made by the National 
Drug Unit (NDU) each year. The NDU's arrests tend to include 
most of the large seizures, but local police also have had 
success. For example, the local police in Limerick seized 
over Euro five million of narcotics in 2005, including a May 
13 seizure of 150 kgs of cannabis resin with an estimated 
market value of over Euro one million. Each year, 60-65 
percent of arrests for drug-related offenses nationwide tend 
to be for simple possession; 20-25 percent possession with 
the intention to sell; and the remainder related to 
obstructing drug arrests or forging prescriptions. In 2003, 
there were in total 7,150 arrests, of which 25 percent were 
possession with the intent to sell and 67 percent simple 
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. (Figures for 2004 and 
2005 are not yet available). 
 
Official statistics for 2005 are not yet available, but 
highlights of key raids, arrests and prosecutions include the 
seizure on March 22, where Police seized 200kgs of cannabis 
with an estimated street value of Euro 1.5 million during a 
search of a house in the Malahide area of Dublin. A man 
jailed in April 2004 for possession of nearly Euro 16 million 
worth of cocaine and cannabis had his prison sentence 
increased from five to seven years by the Court of Criminal 
Appeal in March. On June 30, a man who was caught by police 
with Euro 108,000 worth of heroin and cocaine in 2004 was 
jailed for six years by the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. In 
July, three men were arrested following the seizure of 20kg 
of cocaine, worth Euro 1.5 million, in Portlaoise. On August 
6, a truck driver, found in possession of cannabis and 
cocaine with a combined value of over Euro 15 million, in 
April 2003, was jailed for 10 years at Dublin Circuit 
Criminal Court. On August 15, the NDU recovered cocaine worth 
Euro 4.5 million in a raid on a house in Dublin. Police 
believe that a major drug gang used the house as a base to 
prepare, mix and package an average of eight kg of uncut 
cocaine every two weeks for the past year for distribution 
across south Dublin. The cocaine recovered had a purity of 
almost 80 percent, compared to the average street-level 
purity of between 25 percent and 30 percent. On August 24, as 
part of the result of an ongoing investigation, police and 
customs officials seized 1.2 tons of cannabis resin in 
Kildare valued at Euro 10 million. This resulted in the 
arrest and detention of three Irish men and a Spaniard under 
Section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act.  In Dublin, on the 
same day, police seized some 20 kg of cocaine, worth Euro 1.5 
million. On October 4, during a planned raid on a crack 
manufacturing operation in Dublin, police seized 900g of 
cocaine, 300g of crack cocaine and other drug paraphernalia. 
The drugs had an estimated street value of Euro 150,000. On 
the same day, police and customs service officers seized 15 
kg of cocaine, worth Euro 1.2 million, from baggage at Dublin 
airport, and arrested two women in a follow-up operation. 
 
Corruption. Ireland does not encourage or facilitate illicit 
production or distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs 
or other controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds 
from illegal drug transactions. Senior officials of the 
government do not engage in, encourage, or facilitate the 
illicit production or distribution of such drugs or 
substances, or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug 
transactions. 
 
Agreements and Treaties. The United States and Ireland signed 
a mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) in January 2001, 
which was ratified by the U.S. in 2003 and ratified by the 
GOI in July 2005. An extradition treaty between Ireland and 
the United States is currently in force, but to date, no 
extraditions have been implemented in narcotics related 
cases. 
 
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. Ireland is 
a signatory to the UN Convention Against Corruption. In 2004, 
the Irish government signed the Criminal Justice Act into 
 
law, enabling authorities across EU states to investigate 
international crimes. In 2004, the European Arrests Warrant 
Act became law, allowing for foreign arrests and extradition. 
 
Cultivation/Production. Only small amounts of cannabis are 
cultivated in Ireland. There is no evidence that synthetic 
drugs were produced domestically this year. 
 
Drug Flow/Transit. Among drug abusers in Ireland, cocaine, 
cannabis, amphetamines, ecstasy (MDMA), and heroin are the 
drugs of choice. A Council of Europe report on organized 
crime, published in January, said Ireland had the highest 
rate of ecstasy and amphetamine use in Europe and the second 
highest rate of cocaine abuse.  The UN Office on Drugs and 
Crime (UNODC) World Drug Report 2005, published in June, 
placed Ireland in joint third place (out of 30 European 
countries) for cocaine use and in joint sixth place for 
ecstasy use. 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. Four pilot projects to 
tackle cocaine use were announced in January, following a 
number of reports which indicate that abuse of the drug has 
increased substantially in recent years. The four projects, 
aimed at different types of drug users in Dublin's inner city 
and Tallaght, will differ in their approaches to dealing with 
cocaine abuse. They will include; diversionary therapies 
aimed at mainly intravenous users, group drug counseling, 
individual drug counseling, and cognitive behavior therapy. 
 
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 
 
U.S. Policy Initiatives. In 2005, 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 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, 
continues to work to prevent Ireland from becoming a transit 
point for narcotics trafficking to the United States. 
 
 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
Visit Dublin's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/dublin/index. cfm 
KENNY