Real IRA linked to drugs trade
By Chris Thornton
Publication Date: 18 March 2002
THE Real IRA has been linked to the drugs trade by a senior official in
America's State Department.
Rand Beers, an Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics affairs, also
told the US Congress in Washington that the three Irishmen arrested in Colombia last
year were "members of the IRA".
And the official gave further details of the links the US government believes
exist between Colombian narco-terrorists FARC and the Provisionals.
The testimony came as the US government intensifies its examination of links
between outlawed organisations across the world in the wake of the September 11
attacks. A US Congressional committee is due to explore the links further in
public hearings next month.
Mr Beers, testifying to a Senate sub- committee last week about links between
drugs and terrorism, said there is "some evidence" showing the Real IRA is
involved in drugs.
Mr Beers did not detail the evidence against the group responsible for the Omagh
bomb, and added that "the extent to which the Real IRA or other terrorist groups
in Ireland engage in drug trafficking is unclear".
Joe Dillon, a spokesman for the 32 County Sovereignty Movement - a group linked
to the Real IRA - said the drug claims were "false allegations".
"I do not believe any section of the IRA is involved in drugs," he said. "People
know these things aren't true.
"I don't believe any section of Oglaigh na hEireann, be it Provisionals, Reals
or whoever, would have anything to do with drugs. I've never seen any evidence or
proof of it."
The US official also said there were "strong indications" of a link between the
Provisional IRA and FARC, the Colombian group that he said is heavily connected
to the international drugs trade.
He said FARC had established the links "to increase its capability to conduct
urban terrorism".
"In July 2001, the Colombian National Police arrested three members of the IRA
who are believed to have used the demilitarized zone to train the FARC in the use of
explosives," Mr Beers said.
The US official also said that Basque separatist group ETA, another group with
links to the Provisionals, is involved in "in a variety of crimes from drug
trafficking to money laundering".
Source: Belfast Telegraph
