Families in fear of violence

COMMUNITY activists on the Southside have spoken out
about increasing levels of intimidation and extortion that have culminated in
threats of rape and violence.

Residents have been forced to either flee the area or
pay off thousands of euros in inflated drug debts as dealers step up the
pressure on those who owe them money.

Local activists on the ground in Crumlin and Drimnagh
have told Southside People how they are becoming increasingly concerned about
intensifying intimidation linked to drug dealing in the area.

It has been revealed how drug dealers who ply their
illicit trade in Dublin 12 are often now giving desperate addicts only two days
to repay their debts.

In many cases the parents or relatives of young
addicts are being targeted and forced to pay off astronomical debts that their
children or grandchildren have run up with dealers.

A local source said that most families that were
threatened with violence – and even rape – had either chosen to pay up or flee
the area permanently.

Merciless thugs have been firing gunshots through
victims’ doors or windows in a bid to extort debts that their relatives had
amassed and failed to repay.

“This intimidation is growing now,

? the source told
us.

“People are paying up because there are threats to kill their dog or rape
their daughter.

“I know people who have had their houses shot up
because they didn’t pay, and then they paid. Your house gets smashed up. Even
if you have bullet proof windows your house gets done. This is leaving people
living on their nerves.

“Parents can’t sleep or they have to move out. People
have had to move out of the area altogether.

?

The activist said that one local family had recently
handed over in the region of

?¬30,000 to drug dealers following a campaign of
sustained intimidation.

“They remortgaged their house,

? she revealed.

“I don’t
think they owed them this amount of money but this was what was demanded.

?

The source said that entire neighbourhoods were being
terrorised and it was now only a matter of time before innocent bystanders were
killed.

“When a family is being intimidated it is really the
whole road that is affected as there are shots being fired at houses.

?

The community activist we spoke to suggested that most
of the incidents of intimidation are unreported, as residents are too terrified
to provide witness statements to the gardai.

“I would like to see people speaking more widely about
this in the community,

? the source said.

“Families are being intimidated but
people are too afraid to talk.

?

Joan Byrne, the coordinator of Citywide Drugs Crisis
Campaign, told Southside People that it was evident at a recent seminar it
organised, that drug related intimidation in Dublin 12 was a

“huge

? problem.

Deputy Joan Collins (PBP) has called on the gardai to
dedicate more resources in an attempt to counter the scourge of intimidation
and extortion in the area.

“The gardai should sit on the known people in the area
24/7 and literally follow them everywhere and put them under severe pressure,

?
she said.

“These people should be followed everywhere, into post offices and
shops and when they are driving, just to let them feel that there is an acute
Garda presence monitoring them.

“But I don’t think the gardai are prepared to do that
because they say they don’t have the resources.

?

A spokesperson at the Garda press office said that it
would not comment on

“operational matters

?.

However, he urged local people who were the victims of
intimidation or extortion to contact the Garda Confidential helpline on
1800666111.