The recent seizure of £8 million worth of drugs in Amsterdam would have only a short-term impact on the Dublin drugs scene, the Assistant Garda Commissioner, Mr Jim McHugh, said last night. The long-term solution to the drugs problem was to reduce demand through treatment and education, he said.
The Amsterdam haul, which included 100,000 ecstasy tablets and 600 kg of cannabis, was the largest seizure by the Garda National Drugs Unit from Irish criminals based on the continent. Some 15 firearms were also recovered in the raid on apartments used by the gang.
Mr McHugh said most people involved in drugs came from deprived backgrounds, with poor education and low self-esteem.
"The seizures will have an impact in the short term but in the long term it's questionable because the reality is that as long as there's a demand there for drugs there will always be people ready and willing to supply them because it's a very lucrative business," he said.
"Really, the way to tackle the whole drugs problem is through demand reduction and that has to be done through treatment and education. If the demand is not there for drugs, it does not matter how many traffickers you have, because if they haven't a market they'll go away."
Asked about the concerns of relatives of the Omagh bomb victims following this week's remarks by the Garda Commissioner that the perpetrators would probably not be brought to justice, Mr McHugh said it was "absolutely certain that the Commissioner and the Garda will continue to do all they can to bring those people to justice".
Mr McHugh was speaking at the launch in Ballymun, Dublin, of a crime prevention alliance in north Dublin.
This is aimed at combating crime through the sharing of information between local gardai and staff at shopping centres, the airport, hospitals and Dublin City University.