An elderly person in Northern Ireland was sent cannabis worth £100,000 in the post from “cuckooing” drug dealers, a Sinn Féin MLA has said.
Newry and Armagh representative Aoife Finnegan warned that the growing practice of targeting a vulnerable person’s home for criminal activity like drug deliveries was deeply concerning.
The PSNI also said that while cuckooing has not previously been a significant issue in Northern Ireland, it was “becoming more common”.
“Recently the address of an elderly person was used to post a significant amount of cannabis,” Ms Finnegan said.
“The parcel of the drugs with a street value of £100,000 was posted to the home.
“Thankfully, family members realised that something wasn’t right about the parcel and contacted the authorities.”
With dealers often targeting those who are socially isolated, she said it was a growing method with “brazen heartless criminals” wanting to transport cannabis.
“These peddlers of death and destruction within our communities’ care about nothing but making money,” she said.
“It is important that we are alert to these criminal activities of the drug dealers. People need to realise that unfortunately this is now recognised as a common method of dealers getting delivery of drugs.
“Should anyone become aware of any similar type of incident within their own family network, please report it immediately”.
Sinn Féin Newry & Armagh MLA, Aoife Finnegan.
A police spokesperson said they were alerted to a number of suspicious packages at an address in the Crossmaglen area on Thursday.
“Upon examination of the packages it was discovered that they contained suspected cannabis.”
They added: “Offences of this nature may fall under the remit of cuckooing, which is a form of criminal exploitation.
“However, whilst cuckooing as an offence was not previously assessed to be a significant issue in Northern Ireland it is becoming more common and therefore it is essential the public report any instances to police so that they can be thoroughly investigated.”
Anyone with information on Thursday’s incident can call police on 101, quoting reference 1869 for April 16.
Last June, the Justice Minister Naomi Long made cuckooing and drink spiking criminal offences through legislative consent motions – extending parts of the Westminster Crime and Policing Bill to Northern Ireland.