New powers to tackle rural drug gangs expected next year, says Stormont body
New powers that could tackle the scourge of drug gangs in rural parts of Northern Ireland are hoped to be pushed through the Assembly early next year, the Department of Justice says.
Officials commented after Ulster Unionist deputy leader Diana Armstrong accused Justice Minister Naomi Long of taking her eye off the ball when it comes to the issue, which as the News Letter revealed last week has seen vulnerable older men forced into becoming cross-border drug mules while countryside sports clubs are used to recruit young people into the shadowy world of users and dealers.
Ms Armstrong argued little seems to have been done since a government report probed the issue almost a year ago, which found cross-border drug gang surveillance was lacking and revealed older men in Co Fermanagh were inveigled into taking illegal narcotics between Dublin and their homes specifically because law enforcement wouldn’t suspect them of carrying.
The report emphasised that new legislation in the Assembly’s Justice Bill will contain ways of addressing drug-related intimidation. The bill has to complete six stages in the Stormont before it’s sent to the King for royal assent to become law, and only finished the fourth of those stages at the end of June.
A department spokeswoman this week told the News Letter “it is anticipated” the bill will reach its final Stormont stage early next year, though added: “Scheduling of bill stages is a matter for the Northern Ireland Assembly.”
Said the spokeswoman: “It should be noted that drug related intimidation is a complex issue that requires a cross-departmental response involving the justice, health, housing and education sectors, alongside community and voluntary organisations.”