PSNI issue drug warning after eight deaths

While it has not been confirmed the deaths of the young people aged in their 20s and 30s are drug related and investigations are ongoing, the PSNI has urged the public to be aware of illegal drugs.

People should be particularly careful if they are offered green coloured tablets with a logo of a crown or castle on them, said the PSNI in Craigavon.

Chief Inspector Anthony McNally, Area Commander for Craigavon, said: “Tackling the trade and abuse of illegal drugs is a priority for police in E District, but it is not something we can do alone. We need the support of people in the community, and their leaders, both community and elected. There is an onus on those with specific information about drugs dealing to give it to police.

“The more co-operation we can get from our community the better equipped we are to disrupt the activities of drug-dealing criminals who are involved in the sale and supply of drugs. With community support, we can continue to put pressure on the dealers by carrying out targeted searches and making significant arrests. Indeed the results of our work, often with information from the community stand up to scrutiny.

“There is a need not only to tackle the supply of drugs, but also the demand. Preventative work also calls for a partnership approach, again involving a wide statutory and voluntary agencies that care for those caught up as victims in this destructive trade,” he told the Mail.

Upper Bann PUP issued a statement saying drugs are a cancer and a new approach is needed to removing those who profit from the sale of these drugs, and educate those who fuel the demand.

“Northern Ireland has some very dark days just around the corner. Lets say it as it is, drugs kill people, drugs turn families against each other. We have children terrorising their own parents, physically and mentally due to and to fund their habits.

“We would have no hesitation in confronting these dealers of death. Working with the authorities we can and must rid our communities of this cancer.”