EX-REPUBLICANS USE MILITARY MUSCLE TO DOMINATE IRISH DRUGS IMPORTS

EX-MEMBERS of the IRA and INLA are the leading importers of drugs into
Ireland, using their military muscle and international contacts to arrange
drug shipments from Amsterdam.

Senior gardai said one Amsterdam-based former INLA member, Tommy Savage, is
responsible for the vast majority of drugs imported into Ireland. With a
fearsome reputation for violence, Savage supplies cannabis and ecstasy to
the major gangs in Munster, Dublin and north of the border.

Savage, a 49-year-old convicted armed robber from Swords in Dublin, has
also forged links with former provos in Ireland, sourcing the cannabis and
ecstasy for them in Amsterdam and arranging imports into Ireland, either
through Rosslare, Ringaskiddy, Dun Laoghaire or the North Wall.

The 3.5 million pounds worth of cannabis and ecstasy seized at Calais on
Sunday was bound for three dealers in Cork and Limerick, one of whom is a
former IRA man operating in the building business in Cork City. This man
has previous convictions for assault and is no longer in the IRA, having
become one of the leading cannabis dealers in Munster.

The source for his drugs is Savage, a multi-millionaire former INLA man who
enjoyed links in the republican movement with the married Cork City
businessman.

"This guy is bringing in a ferocious amount of stuff. There is a fair
involvement of ex-provos. The fact that you have that on your CV adds extra
muscle straight away. Other dealers would be afraid to mess with you with
that background.

"Tommy Savage is the main source for drugs coming in here, organising
shipments. He is INLA to the backbone and he works with a lot of people
here all over the country. They don't have to be from a republican background.

"Savage is a very violent man. He never comes back here. He has plenty of
convictions. He's done some serious crime."

Savage is the chief supplier of drugs to the leading gang in Munster,
headed by three men currently under the eye of the Criminal Assets Bureau.
Based out of Arnheim and Amsterdam, Savage also arranges cannabis and
ecstasy imports from Holland to Dublin dealers, and northern gangs who
collect the drugs on entry to Ireland at the North Wall.