GARDAÍ HAVE already tried to investigate the origins of the cocaine that was a likely trigger factor in the death of RTÉ broadcaster Gerry Ryan.
Garda sources have told The Irish Timesthat while much of the media attention since Mr Ryan's inquest has focused on the apparent lack of a Garda investigation, such an investigation has already taken place.
“People he saw in his last hours were spoken to about his death when the toxicology reports came back showing traces of cocaine,” one source said. “Nothing emerged about anybody seeing him taking drugs just before he died.”
The same source said had any information emerged suggesting where Mr Ryan had sourced cocaine or when and where he had taken the drug shortly before his death, it would have been investigated. “The inquest would not have been held if any information had emerged that warranted an investigation, any criminal investigation would have taken priority over holding a quicker inquest,” said one Garda source.
When drug users die from drug use there are seldom lengthy Garda investigations into the origins of the drugs that proved fatal.
Garda sources said even if it were possible to trace a person who gave Mr Ryan drugs in his last hours, it would be impossible to determine if they were the last drugs he had consumed or if a specific batch had caused his death.
Said one source: “There have been cases, some high profile, where people have been prosecuted for drug possession in relation to drug-related deaths.”
“But in those cases, drugs are usually seized at the place where the person died, or in the possession of people when and where the person died. And the prosecutions are usually for drug possession, not related to the death of a person.”
In a number of other cases where there have been prosecutions around the origins of drugs that were taken with fatal consequences, the tracing of the deceased’s last movements has yielded vital evidence.
In some cases it has been determined that the person who died had met others to buy or source drugs in their final hours and some of these meetings were witnessed by others or even captured on CCTV. However, in the case of Mr Ryan, there was no firm evidence of that kind.
The fact no drugs were seized on his person or in the apartment when he died means there was not even a crime scene.
While growth in the use of cocaine has in large part fuelled the entire growth in the drugs market since the mid 1990s, over the past three years demand for the drug has declined.
Many young men, particularly those involved in construction work, who had been spending up to several hundred euro a week on cocaine during the economic boom, now find themselves out of work.
They no longer have the funds necessary to fund recreational cocaine use and many have stopped taking the drug. This has led to a collapse in the demand for cocaine across the country.
A number of drug gangs who have been to the fore in distributing the drugs are themselves under financial pressure.
Garda sources say many gangs no longer have the money to buy large quantities of drugs from drugs wholesalers here or in Spain.
“Not only do they have fewer people to sell drugs to, but their incomes have also been hit by the fact that assets they invested in like property are in negative equity.
“A lot of people they loaned money to expecting a heavy interest payment are struggling because of the recession and simply can’t pay back the loans.”
