SERIOUS drug debt intimidation has been highlighted in a stark report that analyses the extent and causes of the problem in Dublin 15.
Local Community Policing Forum, Safer Blanchardstown, published the report recently and focused on the experiences of residents in Mulhuddart.
The report acknowledges the problem is a national and international phenomenon and not confined to the area. But local Sinn Fein representative Paul Donnelly says he’s aware of a number of incidences in Dublin 15.
“I have dealt with several families who are subject to threats and intimation from drug dealers over the debts of their children,
? he said.
“It is very disturbing to hear of the type of threats made to families who are subjected to terrifying ordeals.
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Drug debt intimidation happens when a user takes drugs on credit from dealers but is unable to pay the money back. Small time dealers can also be intimidated to pay substantial debts if they lose drugs due to being busted by gardai or robbed by addicts.
Forms of intimidation can include threats, physical violence, damage to the family home and even sexual violence. Some victims try to repay debts through regular cash payments or by engaging in crime.
In other cases where the victim is unable to pay, dealers turn to the families and demand that they repay the debt.
Writing in the report, entitled
‘Melting the Iceberg of Fear’, the chairperson of Safer Blanchardstown, Phillip Keegan, said:
“The research found that the issue of drug debt intimidation and intimidation in general must be viewed as part of a continuum of behaviour (e.g. from mild to severe to ruthless) that develops and grows in a community and should be tackled in a systematic and coordinated way along this continuum.
“For example, if we try to understand the problem only in terms of threats and violence, we only concentrate on perpetrators and victims. Instead our attention should also be directed at how the person became either the victim or the perpetrator, what were the stages immediately before and what are the likely next stages for both, if any.
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Interviews with locals in Mulhuddart contained in the report give an indication of how intimidation affects the area and paints a grim picture of the problem.
“There is a general sense of fear and intimidation in the Wellview area,
? one respondent said.
“Residents are afraid to pass (known) gang members on the street. This is a result of constant anti-social and criminal behaviour associated with particular individuals.
“These individuals constantly threaten residents, steal and damage cars, rob from people’s homes, go around the estate drunk or stoned and provoke, start or take part in drunken brawls.
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Another interviewee said:
“Intimidation in Mulhuddart can best be described as physical, psychological and emotional. Cars are attacked and house windows broken, mainly at night time.
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The local Blanchardstown Family Support Network recently held a training seminar for frontline workers in the Dublin West community on supporting families who are dealing with drug debts and intimidation.
Mr Donnelly, who will be standing as a Sinn Fein candidate in next year’s local elections, attended the seminar and said he welcomed the initiative.
“There is no doubt that this is a small but growing problem with families forced to pay out thousands of euro to drug dealers due to threats and intimidation,
? he continued.
“However, there are pathways for support now available provided by the local family support network and the gardai who have provided a senior inspector to deal with individual cases and meet with families to provide advice and support.
“I am urging anyone who is currently facing threats and intimidation from drug dealers to contact your local community drug support team, family support network or the gardai and break the silence and get support.
“It will always be each family’s decision what to do in the final instance but families who have got support to date have found it to be extremely helpful.
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