RUTHLESS crime bosses are now menacing families to collect €20,000 drug debts, it has been revealed.
Users’ parents are being threatened with violent scare tactics to intimidate them into paying the drug arrears – which range from €100 to €10,000, but can be double that, figures show.
A well-known addiction rehab clinic has now warned that the gangs’ threats to collect the money are escalating dangerously.
This is partly because the “accessibility and availability” of cocaine means the drug is widespread across Donegal in “every community, no matter how small”, according to White Oaks Rehabilitation Centre in Muff.
Its clinical services director Stephen McLaughlin spoke to the Donegal News to highlight the worsening problem that is reaching shocking new levels.
He warned that a virulent surge in cocaine use is changing the landscape for debtors’ families.
He said: “There has been an upsurge in drug use in the last ten years, especially cocaine. A lot of problems about debt have emerged with that surge.
“It does happen that drug dealers look for debts to be repaid. Undoubtedly, family members have been put under pressure because gangs have threatened people because of the debts.
“There is no doubt that this is happening in Donegal. People should be under no illusions about the scale of the issue.”
He added: “Paying off debt only enables addiction. If I am the person with addiction, seeing someone else taking care of my debts, what motivation does that give me to change?
“The threats can be direct or subtle. A family can be targeted with people driving up their lane or around their house and even calling to the door.
“They make demands, they give deadlines. I remember one woman saying that she was going home, and adding, ‘I don’t know if my windows will still be there’. She had been warned that her windows would be smashed without payment.”
The Health Research Board helped to launch the first-ever national report on drug-related intimidation and violence in May past with National Drugs Strategy Minister Murnane O’Connor.
The threat to families is so grave that a Government programme has been set up called Drug-Related Intimidation and Violence (DRIVE).
The first-ever national report on DRIVE was in May past when National Drugs Strategy Minister Murnane O’Connor said: “Drug-related intimidation is very insidious and frightening.”
Some 1,027 cases of drug-related intimidation were reported nationally last year, according to the figures, with cases including age groups from 18 to 50 and most involved cocaine.
The report found that debts ranged from less than €100 and up to €20,000, with most debts in the €1,000 to €5,000 category, while ten per cent owed over €10,000, and borrowing from family and friends was the most common method of repayment.
Ireland’s Health and Research Board said: “Drug-related intimidation is a pervasive and under-reported form of criminal activity that affects individuals, families and communities.
“It is reported in every county [including Donegal] and affects all age groups.”
As part of DRIVE, some 800 individuals from 24 drug and alcohol taskforces have been trained to offer support to victims and Garda Inspectors have been assigned across the country to tackle drug-related intimidation.
A Garda spokesperson said: “The Garda Commissioner has selected a Garda Inspector in every Garda division to respond to the issue of drug-related intimidation.
“They will liaise directly with their local superintendent in relation to each individual case.
“An Garda Síochána is dealing with any complaint of drug-related intimidation.
He added: “DRIVE is an interagency project with systems and structures to respond to drug-related intimidation and associated violence in Ireland.
“The project is funded by the Department of Health through its drug initiative.
“The key objective of the DRIVE project is to support those experiencing drug-related intimidation and to build the capacity of communities around Ireland to respond to drug-related intimidation and violence.”
White Oaks Rehabilitation Centre clinicial director Stephen McLaughlin has issued warnings about cocaine and drug debts.
White Oaks director Stephen said: “Gardaí are being assigned. They liaise with families who are being targeted.
“But the families know that the gardaí cannot be outside their house at 2am when these gangs drive by to intimidate them.”
Cocaine use has become more prevalent in the last decade but Stephen is concerned by increases since the end of the pandemic.
He said use of the drug has “increased particularly in the last four to five years” and has reached such a grip that “anyone under the age of 45” who has alcohol problems also has issues with “cocaine addiction”.
He said this highlights how the “accessibility and availability” of cocaine has resulted in the drug being used in “every community, no matter or how small”.
Cocaine use is now “mainstream” and its devastating effects are “far reaching”, according to the White Oaks centre expert.
He also spoke out to guide worried families about how to best help someone with addiction.
Stephen told the Donegal News: “For every person who comes to our centre, there are always another few people who are also affected by their addiction – and that is their families, partners, children, friends and a range of people.
“Their focus has been to get the person well and to help to get them beyond their addiction.
“These people may not have fully realised that the stress and strain on their own lives.
“People have become used to the abnormal. Their abnormal becomes normal. There is a lot of hidden harm.”
He added: “We have to remind families that they also have to look after themselves.
“With addiction, there are a lot of trust issues, especially when it is broken and it has to be worked out over time.
“The nature of addiction is a long-term recovery. Some say, ‘Evict your child’. But it’s not that easy. Parents worry that their child’s circumstances will get worse.”
Former church minister Stephen is due to deliver an addiction coaching presentation at the Recovery in Motion conference in Millennium Forum, Derry, on September 10.