Crack dealers using ‘sophisticated’ marketing to lure users, gardaí say

Crack dealers in urban areas are using increasingly sophisticated marketing techniques to lure in new users and dissuade people from giving up the drug, gardaí say.

Crack cocaine is now recognised as one of the main drugs of addiction in Ireland, and in some areas of Dublin and Limerick it has become more prevalent than heroin.

A survey by the Tallaght Drugs and Alcohol Task Force (TDATF) this week found crack is seen as the most pressing issue facing frontline drug services and the communities in the area.

According to Garda sources in Dublin and Limerick, demand for the drug has led to increased competition among local dealers and an associated spike in violence and intimidation.

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Dealers in both cities regularly text users or send messages on social media advertising their wares that day, alongside claims about their drugs’ strength or purity.

“Two-for-one deals” on crack “rocks”, which usually sell for about €20, are also being offered, as are “package deals” of crack and heroin (crack users often use heroin to mitigate the comedown).

Free samples

Free crack samples are sometimes put through letter boxes of known users, especially if they have not bought the drug in some time.

“It is a high-volume business,” said a Dublin-based garda. “Someone getting clean is the last thing they want because that person could be buying crack five or six times a day.”

Another garda said dealers would be aware of which users were reaching out to drug treatment services and would specifically target them with cheap or free drugs. He cited one instance of a dealer supplying free crack pipes to users so they would not engage with a drug treatment service to obtain sterile pipes. “There’s a level of sophistication there.”

This type of marketing has been used before by dealers, gardaí say. However, the sale of crack is so prevalent in some areas that addicts now have the option of switching to different dealers, creating a need to attract and keep customers.

Gardaí also said the nature of crack use is leading to an increase in low-level crime.

Unlike heroin, crack creates a short-lasting high and an immediate craving for more. This is leading to increasing numbers of muggings and thefts by users in need of money, sources said.

Much of this increase has gone unnoticed due to the overall drop in such crimes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Crack houses

Female addicts are also increasingly likely to turn to the sale of sex to fund their use. Some crack houses have also become makeshift brothels, where addicts can exchange sex for drugs, a trend noted by the TDATF.

It said in the Tallaght area alone there are at least 100 crack houses which it defined as “a dwelling where individuals can use crack cocaine without restriction, or fear of being asked to leave because of such use”.

The growth of crack use, which was described as a “tsunami” by some drug workers in Tallaght, has also become associated with increased drug debt intimidation.

“People are racking up debts way faster . . . and there is no shortage of addicts who are willing to carry out intimidation in return for drugs, or money off their own debt,” said a Limerick garda.

The rapid escalation in the number of crack users is a source of "major concern", said Anna Quigley of Citywide Drugs Crisis Campaign. "There was a sense the heroin problem was stabilising and was not going to get worse. Now, with crack, it is like the early days of heroin where the numbers were escalating really, really rapidly."

Funding to local drug taskforces needs to be restored to previous levels in order to meet the problem, she said.