Drug gangs targeting countryside: Vulnerable older men forced to become cross-border mules and sports clubs used to lure young people into substance abuse, says UUP deputy leader

That’s according to one leading MLA, who claims that despite the issue being highlighted almost a year ago by a government report, authorities have “stalled” in their efforts to tackle the scourge.

Diana Armstrong, deputy leader of the Ulster Unionists, says “every rural community” in the province is aware of how easy it is to get hold of drugs in what are normally thought of as quiet, crime-free areas – and, she adds, it’s widely known there’s a culture of silence about it.

Pointing to a report from the Public Health Agency, she said the problem is even worse than she’d thought, with gangs deliberately targeting countryside communities to both lure younger people into the shadowy world of drug use and threaten older, isolated people into doing their bidding as cross-border mules.

The latter issue was highlighted in Co Fermanagh, she said, where gangs have pressurised vulnerable men into getting buses to Dublin and back on drug runs – going after them specifically because law enforcement wouldn’t suspect people of their generation and background of carting around illegal substances.

“Fermanagh is named, though I would be astonished if it were the only place it is happening,” Ms Armstrong said.

She also stated that rural sports clubs in the west of Ulster are in the sights of “gangs looking to groom young people, with cross-border activity that the report says is apparently not being monitored”.

Families have also been affected by one of their loved ones falling into the drug world, the Fermanagh and South Tyrone politician said, with farmers having to sell off land or livestock to settle debts young people have racked up through substance use.

“This is organised crime deliberately choosing the countryside because we are spread out, quiet and watched less,” stated Ms Armstrong.

“Someone with a home, a job and a family has something to lose, which makes them far easier to threaten than someone with nothing. That describes a great many young people in farming families right across Northern Ireland – and the demands do not stop once you have shown you can pay.”

The Public Health Agency report was published in October last year. Ms Armstrong now demands to know what is being done to probe cross-border drug crime and countryside people being intimidated by gangs.

“Every rural community in Northern Ireland now knows how easily drugs can be got hold of, and how quiet everyone stays about it,” she said.

Contacted by the News Letter, the PSNI stated they “work tirelessly with a huge range of partners to tackle the illegal supply and use of drugs throughout Northern Ireland, including in our rural communities”.

Detective Superintendent Paul Woods from the force’s Organised Crime Branch reinforced the need to collaborate with other branches of law enforcement, government agencies and international police to tackle supply lines.

“We know that drugs bring harm and control into communities, and only benefit those lining their pockets at the expense of others and the wider community,” he said.

He also encouraged people with information on drug supplies or dealing to report it to either the PSNI or Crimestoppers.