Nearly 200 instances of drug-related intimidation have been reported to gardaí in north Dublin, which include arson attacks, assaults and threats to kill, according to a briefing prepared for Dublin City Council (DCC).
Drug-related intimidation involves criminal groups using violence and threats to pressure people to pay drug debts, or to pay off the debts of a loved one. The intimidation can also include threats and violence to others in a community for reporting incidents such as open drug dealing to authorities.
There were 195 reports of drug-related intimidation in the Dublin Metropolitan Region North division between November 2020 and October 2022.
Arrests
In a briefing for the DCC north central area joint policing committee, Garda Insp John Moroney outlined that 22 people had been arrested over threats and intimidation linked to drug debts or dealing. The briefing, due to be presented to the council policing committee on Monday, said 12 cases had been sent forward to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Twenty-one premises had been searched by gardaí as part of investigations into the problem.
Gardaí in north Dublin had 20 ongoing investigations into drug-related intimidation, with 12 suspects linked to 42 different incidents, Insp Moroney’s briefing stated. In one example, an individual was targeted 10 times between August 2021 and March 2022. The intimidation, in that case, is believed to have included arson, criminal damage and threats to kill the victim.
The suspects carrying out the intimidation had known the victims for years and made no attempt to conceal their identity.
The briefing said that this was due to a belief from the suspects that victims of drug-related intimidation would not contact gardaí to report the crime.
In another case from early 2021, a house was targeted over a “relatively small amount of money owed”, the briefing stated.
An individual who did not owe a debt, but was at the home of the target, was stabbed and required 27 stitches, it said.
Resources
The briefing for the policing committee said one of the main challenges faced by gardaí in tackling the intimidation was limited resources.
There was also a risk that in encouraging more people to report the intimidation and threats to gardaí that there could be a loss of confidence in authorities if complaints were not investigated thoroughly.
John Lyons, DCC councillor with Independent Left, said the issue of drug-related intimidation was “huge” in certain areas of Dublin. “I think it is unrealised just how pervasive this is in some communities,” he said.
Families were being “bankrupted” trying to pay off debts and would often refuse to go to gardaí due to a fear of retribution from the criminal gangs involved, he said.
