Justice Minister pledges to go after kingpins as new report shows impact of drug related intimidation
The Justice Minister has pledged to go after drug kingpins with new proposed legisalation saying people are sick and tired of seeing foot soldiers in court while they escape punishment. A new report on the impact of drug related intimidation was launched in North Belfast by the Health and Justice Ministers on Wednesday, October 22, which showed that nearly 40% of people in Northern Ireland are aware of DRI in their community. Just under 15% of people say they have experienced drug related intimidation in the past three years. Speaking to Belfast Live at the launch of the report, Justice Minister Naomi Long said that this report is the "first time" that the Executive has been able to quantify the indimation that certain members of communities face. She said: "What we have never been able to do is quantify it [drug related intimidation] . We know it is happening, everyone will tell you that they are aware of it but what we haven’t got are figures of just how prevalent it is and that is what this report actually provides us with, some hard evidence about how common this is. "So around 40% of people in NI report that they are aware of it in their community and they suspect that it is happening in their community. That rises to over half if you look at 18-35 year olds. When it comes to individuals, one in eight are saying they have experienced it in the last three years and that will either be directly or through a friend or family member. "So that gives us some idea of just how extensive a problem we are dealing with. What it also does is look at the vulnerabilities, how do people get into the situation where they end up being affected by DRI, what are the main harms being caused? For example people being coerced into criminal activity, people being coerced into sexual trafficking and activity. There are a lot of different harms that can be caused and the most important part to me is what is the response. "There will be barriers for some people who are afraid to come forward and report as they are afraid of being made into a criminal themselves, they are worried about reprisals if they come forward and they may be worried about the stigma attached to the fact that they are drug users. "It is really important that we give people the confidence to come and report what is a really serious harm so that the police can investigate but also so other departments can step up and deal with the vulnerabilities around that and try to keep those people safe. No one should be living in fear in NI and we need to work really hard to make sure that is not the case." She also highlighted new legislation that is set to be introduced targeting the kingpins of organised crime groups, saying that people are "sick and tired" of seeing them escape justice while their foot soldiers appear in court. The minister continued: "There is extensive legislation in place to tackle organised crime including the criminal finance act which I introduced in the last mandate, so for example we commenced unexplained wealth orders and a number of other tools the PSNI and other agencies can use to target organised crime and that has been quite effective. "What we are doing now is bringing forward new organised crime legislation because like any other type of crime it evolves over time and if you shut down one avenue for people to make money they will move to another avenue. So what we are doing all the time is trying to keep ahead of this. "One of the key things that I hear, and I am sure you hear to, is that people are sick and tired of seeing foot soldiers in court but the kingpin is not touched and one of the issues that we are bringing forward in this mandate is looking at how we can actually charge people in directing offences as well as participating in organised crime and that is important in getting the people who are at the very centre of these organisations and sending others out to do the work." For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.