Gardaí in Cork confirmed yesterday they were investigating a series of vigilante-style threats sent in letters to three young men in Cobh. Complaints from the families said they had had letters accusing their sons of drug dealings and warning them to stop.
A Garda source said the letters arrived shortly after a car was burned out in Brookvale last month and graffiti daubed on a wall warning drug pushers.
"We've received complaints from three families that they've received letters accusing their sons of drug dealing and warning them to stop or what happened in Brookvale will happen to them," said a Garda source, adding that they were aware of other such letters. Gardaí said the car burning and letters followed the deaths of two young men in the town from suspected drug overdoses in the past 10 months.
The second man's death led to a public meeting attended by 600 people where the man's parents urged people with information to contact the gardaí to help them stop drug dealing in the town.
Local Fianna Fáil councillor Michael Keating said on RTÉ's News at One: "All the letters had Dublin postmarks on them and that's probably the most worrying thing about it - it's well organised whoever is organising it."
Anyone with information can contact Cobh Garda station on 021-4908530 or any Garda station.
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/e5466e3f-853d-49f3-89ae-da9e5d5fe247.png)