Ray Burke
Question:87 Mr. R. Burke asked the Minister for Finance the measures, if any, the Government intends to adopt in order to secure the Irish coastline against drug smuggling. [18145/96]
Written Answers. - Protection against Drug Smuggling.
The Customs Service has primary responsibility for preventing the illegal importation of controlled drugs. In the Single Market era, the Customs Service is required to play an increased role in protecting not only our frontier but also the Irish section of the external EU frontier against the illegal importation of drugs. As the Deputy will be aware, the Revenue Commissioners responded to that situation by allocating substantial resources to this area, in particular by setting up the Customs National Drugs Team, CNDT, in 1992 with specific responsibility for detecting and preventing drug smuggling. This dedicated team operates on a countrywide basis, including at air and sea ports, and it also supplements the general cadre of Customs and Excise staff who are responsible for combating drug smuggling as part of their normal duties.
I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that because of the vital role played by intelligence in combating drug smuggling, the Customs Service has devoted considerable attention to ways of enhancing intelligence gathering. Intelligence units of the CNDT, comprising 28 staff, are specifically dedicated to this work and operate along the entire coastline of the State. The co-operation and assistance of trade associations as well as individual companies involved in the movement of goods and persons has been enlisted through the conclusion of memoranda of understanding. These are aimed at heightening the awareness of employees of airlines, shipping companies, freight forwarders, ferry companies etc. to the dangers of drugs smuggling and provide them with ready channels of communication with Customs. The Customs Service has also enlisted the assistance of the general public in the fight against drug smuggling through the Drug Watch Programme, which was launched in 1994. Under this programme, the assistance of coastal communities, maritime personnel, as well as people living near airfields, has been enlisted to report unusual occurrences to Customs. This programme has met with a very positive response. There is also close international co-operation in the area of intelligence exchange.
In order to extend the capabilities of Customs in the fight against the smuggling of drugs and other illegal substances by sea the Commissioners set up, as a pilot scheme, a martime unit in 1990. Due to the effectiveness of the unit and with the advent of the Single Market the maritime unit was extended to five craft. The primary aim of the maritime unit, as part of the CNDT, is the combating of drug trafficking by means of the gathering of intelligence on the movement of vessels in our coastal waters, the boarding and rummaging of yachts, pleasure craft and fishing vessels in passage or at anchor and the surveillance of parts of our coastline where smuggling activities are likely to occur and which are inaccessible to the Customs mobile task units. Where monitoring of suspect ships and yachts operating outside the range of the CNDT maritime units is required the Naval Service and Air Corps provide vital assistance in this regard.
Among the measures approved by the Government in July of last year to improve law enforcement in relation to the drugs problem were closer working arrangements between Customs, the Garda and the Naval Service, including the introduction of a joint task force to combat drug smuggling operations about which the law enforcement agencies had prior intelligence. Detailed operational guidelines for the joint task force were agreed by the three agencies in May of this year, which provide for a Naval Service involvement where there is a maritime dimension to operations of this kind. The implementation of these measures has enhanced the close co-operation that existed between all the Government agencies in the battle against drug smuggling and has maximised the effectiveness of our enforcement resources.
The effectiveness of the drug watch programme and the joint task force is demonstrated by the joint Customs-Garda-Naval Service operation which resulted in the recent large seizure of cocaine off theSea Mist in Cork and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all concerned.
In the circumstances, I am satisfied that the present measures taken by Customs in co-operation with the other enforcement agencies concerned provide adequate protection against drug smuggling along the Irish coastline. The position will of course be kept under review.