Of Is Cartels’ Irish Arrogance War Act View: Drug Examiner

Irish Examiner view: Drug cartels’ arrogance is act of war — 'cooking' Síochána The Found In Killarney Were Picture: For Ponents An Drugs File Garda And Recently Lab

Mon, 04 Nov, 2024 - 00:30

In many ways, the practice of South American drug cartels illegally importing their product into Ireland for processing and onward shipment can be likened to an act of war, an invasion of national space.

It is a conflict not between rival states but between conflicting views of the world. On one side, respect for the rule of law. On the other, untrammelled criminality and arrogance which, if allowed to continue to flourish, will destroy society.

The latest manifestation comes to light not within Ireland’s inner city areas, but in the bucolic location of Killarney, jewel of the tourist circuit and gateway to the Ring of Kerry.

A raid on a rural property discovered approximately €15,000 worth of suspected cocaine and crystal meth.

But, significantly, gardaí found the foundations of a lab where methamphetamine could be “cooked” before being released into markets here and across the world. In this instance, their intervention prevented large-scale production getting under way.

The seizure follows an earlier case where the largest ever quantity of the drug was found hidden in a purpose-built industrial machine before it was moved to the Port of Cork in Ringaskiddy to be exported to Australia.

The drug commands a much higher street value there. The half a tonne (546kg) of crystal meth seized in Cork was valued at almost €33m but could sell in Australia for more than €230m, according to estimates from their federal police.

The machine stashed with the drugs was sent from Mexico, where the Sinaloa cartel is known to operate and manufacture and traffic crystal meth. One of its members, Morris O’Shea Salazar, who spent part of his youth in Killorglin in Kerry, is wanted in Chile for his alleged role with the cartel and its drug trafficking operations. It is alleged that O’Shea Salazar, who is in his 30s, ran their European operation.

While the authorities have been busy in Kerry, another example of the assault on our frontiers took place at Dublin Airport, where a man on a flight from Lisbon was detained after nearly 3kg of suspected cocaine,with an estimated street value of €210,000, was seized from luggage.

If we need warning of the direction of travel, we should look no further than our friends in France, where the nation has reached a “tipping point” on drug-related violence after hundreds of people were involved in a shootout in the western city of Poitiers. In a separate incident in Rennes, the capital of Brittany, a five-year-old girl is fighting for her life after being shot in the head in a drug-trafficking incident.

The French interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, has a firm view of the expansion of the drugs industry and how it must be stopped. He said: “These shootings are not happening in South America, they’re happening in Rennes and Poitiers.”

A long journey for Kemi Badenoch

It is a sign of the contradictions at the heart of the British Conservative Party that, despite its outward appearance as a fustian natural habitat of posh-boy privilege, it has repeatedly made radical choices of senior leadership. Two female prime ministers and four female leaders of the opposition. The first Asian premier. The first black foreign secretary. Two Indian, female home secretaries.

It’s a record that leaves the opposition Labour party, with its ritual commitments to diversity, blinking.

Here in Ireland, we have nothing to match that apparent range of opportunity.

And so the arrival of Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke — Kemi Badenoch — charged with the task of rebuilding the battered and divided Tory party is another important milestone on the political landscape, and a development we will watch with interest.

Ms Badenoch — her Catholic husband Hamish is the Scottish son of an Irish mother — was born in London to Nigerian parents before being raised in Lagos. She describes herself as a “first-generation immigrant” and says being able to claim British citizenship was the equivalent of “Willy Wonka’s golden ticket”. She is a formidable and eloquent political opponent with a reputation for not suffering fools. In choosing her, the Conservatives have found a leader who will enjoy carrying the battle against Labour and its huge Commons majority.

But first she has to re-establish just exactly what her party stands for and what will bring the Reform supporters who
deserted the blue ranks back to vote Labour out in 2029. The more she bends policy to attract them, the greater the risk of another fissure with the centrist One Nation faction.

The golden touch

Ireland’s entrepreneurial reputation is well-established all over the world. And it has just lost one of its greatest examples with the passing of the man who put Dubai on the map as a duty free retail goldmine.

Anyone who has visited Dubai International Airport will know that it is an experience to be savoured, not an easy compliment to offer in these days of often low-frills travel. A major part of that offer are the expansive shops and service, the brainchild of Colm McLoughlin, who has died aged 81. He made Dubai Duty Free a retail giant which last year sold 2.3m bottles of whiskey, 2.3m cartons of cigarettes, 10.2m cigars, and 3.3m bottles of perfume. In 40 years, Mr McLoughlin helped to develop a €2.5bn business with 6,000 employees.

Mighty growth since he arrived in the UAE in 1983 with a 10-person team after establishing Shannon Airport as the world’s first duty-free operation in 1969.

Mr McLoughlin, originally from Ballinasloe, joined on a short-term contract. Four decades later, his visionary approach left an indelible imprint on business in the Emirates.

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