Thousands of pounds worth of drugs, believed to be cocaine, have been found lying on a street in broad daylight outside a West Belfast childcare centre.
The bag (below_ was discovered last Friday morning in St Agnes Drive by a passer-by who took the drugs to the nearby Sinn Féin office at Connolly House.
Benny Lynch, Manager of the Community Drugs Programme at the Falls Community Council, said the drugs undoubtedly belong to a dealer rather than users. He also revealed that a similar package was found at a primary school in the Falls area last week.
“We are talking about thousands of pounds worth here,” he said. “This is not a small find, it was not dropped by lads going to a party, this is a sure sign of dealing. This bag contains an opiate of some description. It will need tested to provide a definitive answer, but it appears to me to be an opiate mixed with cocaine, something that would have ended up in a cocktail of drugs.”
“This is the second find in less than a week,” he added. “A similar substance was found outside the Irish school in Iveagh on Monday and then handed in. We would encourage other people to be as vigilant as the lady who handed this batch of drugs over as in the wrong hands it could be very dangerous.”
Sinn Fein’s Matt Garrett praised the local women who discovered the drugs while West Belfast MP Paul Maskey called for people to do what they can to ensure dealers are brought to justice. “We’re relieved these drugs are out of circulation thanks to a concerned member of the public,” said Councillor Garrett. “We are equally grateful that they were not discovered by a child or this could have been a lot worse.”
“Dealers do not care about anyone or anything bar making money,” said Mr Maskey. “We don’t know for sure exactly what drugs are in this bag but neither do the people who would be taking it. Drugs are a huge problem and we all have a duty to do what we can to tackle the scourge. I would encourage anyone with information to bring it forward so these dealers can be dealt with in the courts.”
The drugs were handed over to the PSNI for testing.
