Psychoactive drugs seized in Donegal

Revenue’s Customs Service and the Garda have made another substantial seizure of synthetic psychoactive drugs that were banned two years ago under legislation that closed most of the State’s head shops.

Customs officers identified as suspect a parcel that had entered the State having been sent in the postal service from China. Gardaí were called in a controlled delivery of the parcel was made to the intended address in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, yesterday.

When a 28-year-old man took delivery of the drugs he as arrested and detained at Letterkenny garda station under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act.

The parcel contained four kilograms of the drug 4- Methylethcathinone, also known as 4-MEC. The seizure has an estimated street value of €140,000.

The drug is a synthetic stimulant similar to the mephedrone, which was sold in headshops as “snow blow”, which was regarded as being similar to cocaine.

The seizure in Donegal follows a similar seizure of psychoactive drugs valued at almost €800,000 in Waterford in September.

Security sources said the route of the parcel seized in Donegal, which came via the postal service and originated in China, is typical of an increasing number of items of post being found to contain banned psychoactive drugs.

In 2011, the first full year in which synthetic drugs and the head shops that sold them were banned, Revenue’s Customs Service seized 101 parcels containing the drugs.

In the first nine months of 2012, that figure had jumped to 697 cases.

Those familiar with the problem say the frequency of seizures is increasing and that the 2012 annual total is expected to exceed 1,000. That would represent a tenfold increase in one year.

In September Michael Coleman (22) and Liam Coffey (22) died in Kinsale, Co Cork, after taking a synthetic drug mix containing both ecstasy (or MDMA) and PMMA.