Primetime

Paulzx

Primetime tonight focused on a convicted drug dealer in Co. Louth. There are allegations he was a Garda informer and was allowed get away with possesion of 1.8 million worth of heroin.

The case is with the Garda ombudsman at the moment. There was some serious allegations made about un-named Gardai and the impression he had received special treatment.

Is this going to turn out to be another Donegal? Lets hope it isn't as this is the last thing AGS needs.

Trojan911

I saw that show last night. The task of informant handling is a murky world when you are dealing with that type of crime in the first instance.

As Primetime showed it was apparent that this dealer wasn't known to Garda HQ as an informant. So who was running him & why wasn't he registered?

What disturbed me was the two informants who were feeding information to their apparent handlers about this dealer and were then being threatened by phone and then a visit to the home. Who was passing this information back to the dealers & why? Or was it the dealers making these threats?

It certainly points a finger of suspicion back to the handlers for reasons I won't expand on in here.

Whilst informants in general pass information to Gardai it is sometimes not acted apon so to protect that particular informant. They may be passing high grade first hand info which may lead to bigger fish being caught & larger consignments being netted i.e. why catch a dealer when you can catch a supplier.

I would have thought there would be specific guidlines in place for the role of infomant handling, for all informants or C.H.I.S. as it was referred to last night

Relevant

It was interesting that at no stage did the interviewer ask the couple where they were getting this information from. Also if these people are willing to go on television (even though their faces were blurred the dealer and gardai in question clearly know who they are) what is to say that they weren't telling people down the pub and in the shops?

There was also no proof that what was found in the bag by the man was in fact drugs. Nothing documentary if you as me!

Paulzx

I have to say that there is something about the people who are making the allegations that bothers me. There is definetly more to this than is apparent from the interview last night.

First of all how did they know the individual was storing drugs on the land.

Secondly, if you are a normal joe soap who suspects large quantities of drugs are being stored somewhere you certainly wouldnt go onto the private property and search for them. I certainly wouldnt have the balls to do it.

I certainly will await the results of the Ombudsmans investigation with huge interest.

Mods: Everything that was said so far on this thread has been brought into the public domain already by rte. I'm aware this is an ongoing investigation

Relevant

Totally agree paul. How exactly would ordinary joe soaps receive the information that he was about to receive another €1.9m worth of drugs

Eru

Watched this show even though Im not a fan of the show or its tactics.

The first thing that struck me was the allegation and how Primetime while keeping everything legal, ran with this information as if it was fact. Since when is third hand information that supposedly came from a durg dealer so reliable?

Also, as said. The couple, on top of being suspicious about how they came across that information, clearly stated that it was only drugs they were against. Hmmm, someone that seems to believe robbery and burglary are OK isnt a great source of good citizen in my book.

Besides that. The decision not to prosecute is with the DPP and has absolutely nothing to do with the Gardai and too be fair, the drugs Gardai clearly wanted to prosecute.

Not appearing on the court sheet? Happens all the time and again, has absolutely nothing to do with the Gardai. Thats solely with the courts.

Now having said all that, maybe there is something to it and time will tell but Im not convinced by what Primetime put forward.

muppet01

The thing about the show that struck me was the lad from K district discussing how the anvil checkpoints are now deployed in the Finglas area....

Eru

muppet01 wrote: »

The thing about the show that struck me was the lad from K district discussing how the anvil checkpoints are now deployed in the Finglas area....

Blanch is divisional HQ for Finglas.

donvito99

The guy with the 1.9 million was never charged with dealing, why wasn't he charged with possesion or something. (Please excuse my ignorance towards law etc)

TheNog

donvito99 wrote: »

The guy with the 1.9 million was never charged with dealing, why wasn't he charged with possesion or something. (Please excuse my ignorance towards law etc)

I havent seen the show so dont know the ins and outs of it but a person cannot be charged by a Garda for a case so serious without first getting direction from the DPP for a prosecution. Ever heard in the news "" X amount of people were released from custody without charge pending a file to the DPP"?

Eru

donvito99 wrote: »

The guy with the 1.9 million was never charged with dealing, why wasn't he charged with possesion or something. (Please excuse my ignorance towards law etc)

He was charged but the state (IE dpp and chief state solicitors not Gardai) entered a no contest and the case was dismissed. Why? Only those connected to the case can say.

Minor point, all drug cases are posession. The difference is posession for personal use or supply.

donvito99

Its all Greek to me.

deadwood

donvito99 wrote: »

Its all Greek to me.

Tell that to the ones in jail shower block!

The Sunday Times have been running this story since last year. Think they may have reported that the Ombudsman becoming involved back in January, or earlier.