NEW EXTRADITION MEASURES BOOST TO OUR DRUG WAR

MOVES to extradite known drug barons to Ireland from safe havens in Spain,
Holland or other EU states, will send out a deafening message that
criminals who flee this jurisdiction can no longer evade justice.

Up to now, difficulties faced in bringing key players in the drug trade to
book have been exacerbated because they have been able to protect their ill
gotten gains. By moving freely from country to country, they effectively
put themselves beyond the reach of the law, preventing their assets being
seized.

Because of the enormous damage which drugs inflict on society, there can be
no let up in the ongoing war against this illicit trade. Significantly,
under new legislation being put in place by Justice Minister O'Donoghue,
people involved in drug smuggling and who seek refuge in EU countries will
in future face extradition to Ireland. White collar criminals, including
tax cheats, will also be subject to extradition under new conventions
covering inter EU State extradition.

Closing this international loophole will open the door for agencies like
the Criminal Assets Bureau to seize the ill gotten gains of those who prey
on the most vulnerable elements of society.

Since its inception less than four years ago, the CAB has proved highly
effective in carrying out its important role of confiscating, freezing or
seizing criminal assets amounting to almost pounds 11 million by 1998.

In the wake of a massive garda blitz on the criminal underworld following
the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, many of the country's leading
drug barons fled this country, moving their wealth and their bases of
operation to Amsterdam and Spain. But in a trade which spans the globe,
Ireland is still a major back door for smuggling drugs into Europe.

The full extent of the problem was graphically illustrated last year when
cocaine worth pounds 41 million was seized off the south coast. Following a
haul of pounds 88 million worth of cocaine three years earlier, it was the
second biggest seizure in the history of the State.

Hopefully, the new extradition measures will prove to be a major deterrent,
sending out a definite message to drug barons who see Ireland as a target
for profiting at the expense of people whose lives are poisoned by the
cancer of drug addiction.