Drug problem worsens across the county

Detections of possession of drugs for personal use in Tipperary is up 39 per cent for the first 11 months of 2020, the Chief Superintendent for the county Derek Smart told a recent meeting of the county’s Joint Policing Committee.

Possession of drugs for sale or supply is up 48 per per cent across the county, members of the committee heard.

For incidents of drugs for personal use, the Clonmel District heads the list with 222 cases, followed by Thurles, 99; Nenagh, 87; Cahir 49 and Tipperary Town, 47.

The overall number of incidents for possession of drugs for personal use across the county rose from 363 last year to 504 in 2020.

The Clonmel District also had the largest number of incidents involving cases of possessing drugs for sale or supply (57), followed by Nenagh, 39; Tipperary Town, 21; Thurles, 18 and Cahir, 13.

The overall number of incidents of possession of drugs for sale or supply had risen from 100 in the first eleven months of 2019 to 148 in 2020.

Chief Superintendent Smart said one of the most high profile cases was a haul of over €1 million in drugs and cash in Kilcommon on October 31st, 2020. The haul included €647,500 of suspected cocaine while €370,000 cash was uncovered in a subsequent search. A file was being prepared in the case and should be with the DPP in the coming weeks.

Deputy Martin Browne said it seemed to be a case that young people were being dragged into drug crime because they were under pressure from big drug dealers.

The Chief Superintendent said young people were being sucked into drug selling; unfortunately the attraction was “quick money”.

Answering questions individuals put to him on drug debts, he said people aware of such incidents should contact the gardaí. Or, if members of the public had knowledge of drug dealing, they should contact a member of the force because the victims “are all our children”; children of all sections of society were involved. The force had a specially trained inspector in Thurles who dealt with drug debt issues.

Deputy Mattie McGrath said drugs were “a scourge in every town and village” and the gardaí and the State needed to keep on top of the problem.

The Chief Superintendent said drug detection will remain a focus for the force in 2021.

He revealed that first offences for possession of drugs for personal use were about to be treated as adult caution rather than being dealt with as a criminal matter in the courts. He felt a lot of people would welcome such a move as lots of young people were getting caught up in this type of activity and receiving a criminal conviction that hindered their prospects of travelling abroad.