Limerick's cocaine crisis: 'Classless' drug spreads across county

This is Part One of the Leader's special feature on Limerick's cocaine crisis

A COUNTY Limerick publican can hardly go a night without having to wipe the tops of the toilet cisterns in his bar to remove the cocaine which has spilled throughout the evening.

“We’d have to regularly clean the tops of the toilet cisterns due to traces of cocaine being left on them. The young lads go into the cubicles in the men’s toilets. They line it out there and sniff it up. You’d notice the difference in them when they come out - they are different to being drunk,” the publican told the Limerick Leader.

“It’s mostly lads in their late teens and early 20s. They seem to take it particularly when they are together - a group of them on a night out. You’d have a right mix dabbling it in - even young fellas into sport who are playing on local teams - soccer and GAA,” he added.

This is a common sight in every town and village in Limerick. The county, much like the rest of the country, has seen a rise in cocaine use. Statistics from The Health Research Board show that throughout the country, there was a 32% increase in the number of cases requiring treatment for cocaine between 2016 and 2017.

Labour councillor Connor Sheehan has seen the growth in the drug's popularity first hand.

“It has become so common place. If you go out to any bar or club, you see it, it’s everywhere. It’s not just one group of people doing it either, it crosses all demographics, it's classless,” said Cllr Sheehan.

“It is in every single town and village in Ireland. It just spread like absolute wildfire. I can’t remember a time in the five or six years where I haven’t known several people who take it. I mean I have never touched it in my life, and I wouldn’t, but I have been offered it so many times. You go into bathrooms on Friday night and you can just tell people are doing it,” he added.

Cllr Sheehan, who is from Corbally, claims to the socially accepted nature of the drug, that Limerick could be facing a bigger problem than the heroin epidemic that shook the city in the 90s.

“I think it could be a bigger problem than the heroin epidemic that Limerick saw in the 90s and 2000s. It’s worse, because people don’t take it as seriously as they would heroin use. It doesn’t have the same outward physical manifestations. There are no needles involved. You could walk past people who regularly use cocaine and you wouldn't actually know by looking at them that they are a user,” said Cllr Sheehan.

DEALERS 'HOOKED' ON SELLING AS MONEY TALKS

The influx of use in the county means there is money to be made, and for some people, the pull of the cocaine market is stronger than the drug itself.

Anthony, who wishes to keep his identity a secret, has been selling drugs in Limerick for the past 12 years. He says the money that can be made is attracting more people into the illicit trade.

“I actually started to pay for my own stuff. I realised that if I get more on tick, I could sell to the boys and have some left over for myself for free,” said Anthony.

Tick refers to a transaction in which someone acquires the drugs immediately but pays for it at a later date.

“I don’t really take it anymore. But I am as hooked on selling it as these lads are taking it. It’s a rush, like gambling, I honestly don’t think I could stop,” Anthony added.

According to Anthony, even low level dealers can double their investment by selling cocaine.

“A kilo will cost you between €25,000 and €30,000. That's for the bigger lads. An ounce will cost about €1,000. There are 35 ounces to a kilo. If you get good quality stuff, you can step on it and make it double. Now you have 70 ounces and you have already doubled your money. It’s a million euro industry in this county,” said Anthony

“The average stuff I was getting is between 30% and 40% pure. So if I’m stepping on it, and my guys stepping on it, you can imagine how weak it is when the guy on the bottom is getting it. People use a lot of different things, the most common mixers I’ve seen are creatine, pseudoephedrine and speed” he added

Although Anthony lives in the city, he makes most of his money in the county.

“There’s a more open market in the smaller towns and villages. Less people selling. There's these three girls that buy off me. They are proper model types. Really nice girls from nice families. They'd all be in their 20s and every week they go out on the town. They'd first call me up around nine [pm] and get me to drop up the first lot.

“They'd take a nice bit. And they'd be nice about it. It’d be around 2am when they call again. They'd be well on it now. If they are lucky, they've found some lads who will pay for it. Then comes the last phone call, usually around 6am. Sometimes my phone would be off, but they will leave a hundred messages. They will call me every name under the sun until I answer.

“If I do answer, they'll try get it on tick. They'll promise you the world. They'll even ride you, they’re that mad for it. That’s €300-€500 profit off of three people. If I stopped tomorrow, they'd find someone else. I guess that's the only way I can justify it to myself,” Anthony finished.

Pick up next weekend's Limerick Leader for Part Two of this feature