How out-of-town drug dealers exploit vulnerable people in Ireland

Opinion: Ireland can learn lessons from the British experience in dealing with 'county lines' drug dealing

By James Windle and Kevin Sweeney, UCC

In the UK, the phenomena of 'county lines' drug dealing has received considerable political and media attention. County lines are where drug dealers from large urban areas cross police borders to sell heroin and crack cocaine in smaller provincial towns. A distinctive aspect of this new drug supply model relates to the systematic use of predatory recruitment and exploitation of vulnerable peoples to store, transport and sell drugs.

Research has identified out-of-town drug dealers exploiting indebted drug consumers, adults and young people with welfare needs, children and young people and people experiencing alcohol or drug dependency. The British National Crime Agency report that young people targeted by out-of-town dealers are typically aged between 14 and 17, and often looked after children or were known to social workers. The model has been associated with a broad range of harms, including increased violence between established and out-of-town dealers, coercive control of vulnerable people and child welfare issues.

Europol and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction recently reported the development of a similar phenomenon in Ireland. We have heard anecdotal reports of urban drug dealers expanding their selling operations to smaller towns and the Greentown project, while not focused on cross-border activity, collected evidence of the exploitation of young people by criminal networks who regard them as disposable assets. The exploitation of young people has also been well presented in recent novels by Lisa McInerney and crime correspondent Cormac O'Keefe.

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From RTÉ Radio 1's News At One, a new report from Europol highlights the scale of drugs and organised crime in Ireland

While the size and scope of the phenomena in Ireland does not appear to have reached the level of the UK, the Irish government can reflect on the British experience to ensure they stay ahead of the curve. The key lesson from the UK experience is that countering the movement of drug dealers, reducing the harms associated with out-of-town dealers and safeguarding vulnerable peoples is complex and challenging.

Here are four key lessons from the British experience. First, countering the exploitation of vulnerable peoples, and mitigating the harms of out-of-town dealers extending into new markets, requires extensive cooperation between Garda units and between the gardaí and other frontline practitioners who might come into contact with vulnerable populations (such as Tusla, schools, medical practitioners and those working with domestic violence victims/survivors, the homeless or people who use drugs).

Such cooperation can be challenging, partly due to differing objectives and institutional cultures. This problem can be present even at the interface between the agencies countering the drugs trade directly. For example, customs tend to have a seizure of product agenda, whereas gardaí tend to prioritise prosecutions. Likewise, Tusla can focus on child welfare without recognising broader contextual issues. As such, an independent central body may be required to bring agencies together. Common training on identifying and working with vulnerable peoples may break down some existing institutional barriers, whilst ensuring practitioners are singing from the same hymn sheet.

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Second, vulnerable populations may be criminalised rather than safeguarded and their complex needs may go unrecognized. The reality of identifying vulnerability and exploitation becomes more difficult when services are under resourced and may lack specific training in this area. Specifically, it can be difficult to identify individuals as vulnerable if they consistently present as "tough" and "hyper masculine", a persona often developed as a safety mechanism to avoid looking vulnerable, which may increase their risk of victimisation.

Many will have initially chose to work for out-of-town dealers, enticed by financial and social incentives only to experience coercive control at a later stage. Coercive control does not usually require frequent displays of violence; threats and occasional violence are sufficient to ensure compliance and secrecy. As such, it can be extremely difficult to breach codes of silence and this lack of cooperation can be seen as evidence of collusion. The British research and policy literature suggests that despite the good intentions of local services, these characteristics can make it difficult for over-worked and under-resourced frontline practitioners to see vulnerability beneath tough exteriors.

Third, the existence of out-of-town dealers can ignite local conflicts, although this is not always the case and partnerships between local and out-of-town dealers have been witnessed in the UK. Gardaí should focus on reducing drug market violence, regardless of whether perpetuated by local or out-of-town dealers. This may involve a targeted deterrence approach which focuses on disrupting the most violent individuals and groups to nudge local dealers away from using violence as a tool of market control.

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Fourth, a criminal justice approach can only go so far. Housing policy likely had a significant role to play in the movement of dealers, with "problematic families" being moved from London and other big cities to smaller towns, which allowed some drug dealers to scope new markets.

More importantly, existing research has clearly established that those exploited by county lines are pushed into the arms of predatory dealers by economic deprivation or insecurity, disruptive and chaotic home lives, domestic abuse and problematic drug use. The cycle of drug abuse, prosecutions, violence and drug debts also creates a negative feedback loop that undermines community efficacy. This causes many in the community to adopt a stoical approach by minding their own business and avoiding cooperating with the gardaí.

In summary, there are short-term measures which should be developed to safeguard vulnerable people exploited by out-of-town dealers and reduce violence within drug markets. However, longer-term measures must look at the environments which create such a large pool of vulnerable peoples to be exploited.

Dr James Windle is a lecturer in Criminology at UCC. Dr Kevin Sweeney is a lecturer in Criminology at UCC.

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ

How out-of-town drug dealers are exploiting vulnerable people in Ireland

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