Drugs gangs threaten to rape targets’ sisters if debt not paid, Garda Commissioner says

Drug dealers seeking to collect debts have threatened to rape their targets’ sisters if the money was not paid, Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has said. He also pointed out that gangs had carried out petrol bombings immediately after four members of the English family were murdered in an arson attack on their Waterford home.Kelly said the drugs trade had “such a hold on people” that many of those carrying out violent acts to pressure others to pay debts were often doing so to settle their own debts with gangs.The cycle often involved very extreme acts of violence and threats, including threats of rape, he added. READ MOREThe commissioner said people should not remain isolated in a situation where they are under constant pressure and in fear. If they contacted gardaí, the response could be dictated by the victim’s wishes and could be subtle, he said.“We have cases where people threaten to rape someone’s sister because they owe money. That’s the absolutely horrendous [incidents we deal with],” Kelly told a meeting of the Policing & Community Safety Authority in Co Cavan on Thursday.He said 34 inspectors had been appointed across all Garda divisions to take receipt of complaints of drug-related intimidation. However, while the public was very keen to pass on information when high-profile “horrendous” attacks took place, very often they did not have the level of detail required for criminal investigations. Kelly noted that people had been charged over the recent Waterford attack and others were charged over an unrelated petrol bombing in Edenderry, Co Offaly last December that claimed two lives, including that of a child. However, those investigative breakthroughs were usually not enough to encourage other victims to come forward. Every victim was “in their own terrible situation where they’re absolutely terrified”, Kelly said, and it was often very hard for them to come forward and make a complaint to gardaí as they were being targeted by a drugs gang over a debt.“Just to give an indication of what we’re actually dealing with here, we had that incident in Waterford and the following day there was a very similar attack in another part of the country,” he said.“It’s nearly unfathomable to think that somebody would do the exact same thing the following day having seen what happened. And to make it worse, the day after that we had another one. “I say that just to show you what we’re dealing with, even a terrible tragedy like that doesn’t put people off. The drugs business has just such a hold on people.”He said the attack on the English family home in Waterford, by a drugs gang trying to extort them to pay someone else’s €20,000 drugs debt, had brought drug-related intimidation “to the fore”. He said it was a complex problem that would endure.The investigation into the Waterford incident is being led by local gardaí and backed by national units. The fact that two people had been charged, and others arrested and questioned, demonstrated that gardaí could make rapid progress in drug-related intimidation cases, the commissioner said.Deputy Commissioner Paul Cleary said the attack in Waterford, and the subsequent fallout, had led to a national conversation about drug-related intimidation. He said it was important for victims to know they had options in their search for help, including the Garda or the Drive project, which helps victims of drug-related intimidation.