More Than 1,000 Drug Intimidation Cases Handled By Gardai Last Year

A Wexford councillor says drug gangs have been spreading their tentacles into South Wexford.

Gardaí received reports of 1,027 drug debt intimidation incidents nationwide last year.

Almost two-thirds of those threatened were living with family members, with children in some of the homes.

Aontu's Jim Codd says he has spoken to some of the victims and they are fearing for their lives:

"I remember being in one house where the windows had been smashed in and mothers have been told their houses would be set on fire.

"One young man told me about being thrown in the back of a van and having his leg broken before he was thrown out on the side of the road.

"This is a terrible plague on us."

Councillor Codd says the gangs are able to establish themselves in rural Wexford because we don't have enough Garda resources.

He feels these people are operating in parts of the country where they know they won't be caught:

"If you have a guard in a village like Kilmore or Taghmon for a couple of hours and they're called away, they can't establish the relations they need in the locality.

"They need to be on the roads at night and breaking up the movement of these drugs."

Councillor Codd says he has also been targeted because of his willingness to stand up to these gangs.

It follows a story in the Mail on Sunday where a family paid €200,000 over 20 years to free their son from a drug debt.

Councillor Codd says speaking out is frightening but it's the right thing to do:

"There was a number of bags of rotten fish thrown at the end of the lane where I live, I've gotten messages and calls threatening my children.

"If you buckle for these bullies you'll keep buckling and that's what keeps happening to these people who hand over their money."

That report was funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.