Its been reported in the Irish Times that an investigation into Garda corruption in Dublin city is examining allegations that an organised crime gang set up hoax drug seizures, framed suspects and paid bribes to officers to divert attention away from their own activities.

There have also been claims made that cash bribes were left with drug consignments for rogue Gardaí to collect when carrying out raids on properties.

Detectives are said to be auditing all arrests and prosecutions involving a small number of officers who might have colluded with criminals to frame low-level dealers. The criminals involved have connections to the Hutch organised crime gang and the Kinahan cartel. The Hutch’s and Kinahan’s are infamous crime families in Ireland who are responsible for countless murders and the supply of a lot of Irelands illegal drugs.

All contacts between Gardaí and criminals who agree to work as informers/rats in return for cash payments are strictly regulated to ensure officers do not compromise themselves or inadvertently disclose information. Specially trained Gardaí are permitted to engage with criminals only under the direction of senior officers, who are known as controllers, to ensure the integrity of the relationship. The extent of the suspected corruption among officers in Dublin city has surprised senior Gardaí, although investigations are continuing.

Gardaí are looking into claims that some officers may have extorted money from food delivery drivers whom they stopped at night, and stole money from apartments they raided. Small quantities of cannabis and cocaine seized from petty dealers were not logged. The investigation has established that some officers obtained search warrants under false pretenses from peace commissioners on the grounds that a District Court judge could not be reached in emergencies, while others were simply forged.

The investigation is being led by detectives at Garda Headquarters, who are confident they have collected sufficient evidence to press charges and files are being prepared for the director of prosecutions.

For so long I and many others have been saying that the prohibition of drugs creates a situation where Gardaí are so easily corruptible as the money being made by Gardaí pales in comparison to the money being made by organised crime gangs. A guard in their first 8 years of service earns less than €35K a year and after 8 years they can then earn €52K. An organised crime gang in control of a community could be making €50K a week making it very easy to buy off a couple of local detectives, for gangs like the Kinahan’s they could even afford to buy a politician or two.

The detectives benefit not only financially from these relationships but they can excel their careers too by taking out rival dealers for the organised crime gangs. The raids on rival dealers can help prop up a detectives numbers at the end of the year making them look like the top cop on the job but in reality they are a part of the problem.

This is going to continue for as long as we continue with the failed policy of drug prohibition. We cannot continue to bury our heads in the sand to the much greater problems created in our society by drug prohibition. We need to end drug prohibition and create a safe and regulated way in which a drug user can access their drug of choice. This will not only help to save lives but it will also remove the organised crime gangs from the drugs trade and therefore make our communities much more safer places to live in and for our kids to grow up in.