This morning.

Paraphernalia seized by Gardaí during the discovery of a suspected ‘Crystal Meth Lab’ in Walkinstown, Dublin.

According to Gardai, pending analysis, the estimated street value of the drugs seized is thought to be in excess of €450,000,000.

A 50-year-old man was arrested at the scene and is currently detained at Sundrive Road Garda Station.

A helluva drug.

Pics: Garda Press Office

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43 thoughts on “Breaking Bad

  1. Fact Checker

    Why does the media slavishly report the ‘street value’ of seizures? It is not what the drugs are worth in wholesale format. Much of the retail price of an illegal drug is what is being paid to dealers for getting the drug to the consumer in an acceptable size.

    It is like saying that a container with a 1,000 kilo load of tomatoes is worth €2,999 because tomatoes retail at €2.99 a kilo. It is not. The wholesale price is always much lower. This is because of the value added at the retail end where the produce is packaged and ready for small-scale consumers.

    1. postmanpat

      The fuzz count a cannabis plant at €800 euros each. They are worth €80 at most. The lazy media never question it. because drug are bad hummkayyy. If drugs cost that much then smoking a joint would be a euro a toke.

      1. Fact Checker

        In the early 2000s there briefly lived a freesheet in Dublin called ‘The Slate’.

        In certain ways the tone was not very different from BS.

        Anyway, the Slate used to have an interesting feature where they benchmarked official ‘street values’ against what their mates were actually paying for drugs. The official estimates were always 20% or more inflated.

        Oh for more of this kind of journalism!

        1. mildred st. meadowlark

          That would make for some interesting reading, I daresay.

          Any chance this could be a thing lads?

    2. Cian

      How else would you quantify drug seizures in a consistent[1] way? ‘Street value’ is a good way to report the amounts – regardless if it is an end-dealer with 10g (@€60/g = €600) or a boat-load of 100kg (@€60/g = €6,000,000).

      If you go down the route of ‘wholesale’ price then you need a different value depending on where you are in the hierarchy (and what quantity you are buying).

      Secondly, how would you quantify something like a Crystal Meth lab? The seizure is a mix (I assume) of mostly raw materials and some finished product? the cost of the chemicals? So this story above may have (I’ve no idea) €1000 worth of chemicals? How can a reader grok what that actually means?

      It’s why the ‘double-decker-bus’ is often used to quantify size – people may not be able to visualise 20m – but are better able to understand 4 double-decker busses tall.

      [1] accepting your later point that the ‘street value’ is often over-estimated.

      1. Fact Checker

        I appreciate all this.

        That said, shouldn’t police who regularly seize drugs have a fair idea of what a unit is worth at various points in the supply chain?

        Much of their information comes from informants anyway who are knowledgeable in this regard.

        1. edalicious

          But it would be ridiculous to value the drugs based on where they were in the supply chain. You would have two seizures from different points in the supply chain, where the same amount would have vastly differing prices. There would be no point in reporting the value then. They may as well just pick one arbitrary point and relate all seizures to that price point so that joe public can compare them appropriately.

      2. Listrade

        Yeah that’s all well and good, but the Sperm Bank didn’t want to hear about my street value argument.

  2. Andyourpointiswhatexactly?

    I’m making a list of all your IP addresses and will citizen’s arrest you later.
    Yizzers’ve been warned.

        1. Andyourpointiswhatexactly?

          This is not a joke. I’ve had a glass of wine with my lunch and am now grumpy because I’m back at work and want another.

          1. Andyourpointiswhatexactly?

            Ha! I was in Chez Max actually, Janet, so had a cheeky cotes de duras. Nice.
            It REALLY HAS been a long week! I can’t wait to kick back and relax tonight.

  3. Not On Your Nelly

    I’ve seen that tv show!!

    ‘member? Like on account of how meth was in that American tv show and this is meth too!!

    ‘member??!!??

  4. Gavin

    I think lab might be stretching it a bit… had a total other image in my mind when I heard it on the radio

  5. Junkface

    Oh Christ!! The introduction of Crystal Meth to the Scobies of Ireland would be absolute mayhem. I hope they stop this stuff in its tracks. Total poison! Makes people dangerously deranged.

    1. ahjayzis

      Be honest, if the Disclosures tribunal finds that Pig HQ is the biggest meth lab in the country, would you even bat an eyelid anymore?

  6. Mensonge

    Decriminalise. Treat addiction as a health problem. Supply the drugs for free to registered addicts. Take the profits away from the criminals. The result will be that addicts get a) a regulated, correct dose of their drug and b) a drug unmixed with any other toxic substance; plus help into jobs and housing, and medical and psychiatric treatment. Drugs will no longer be glamorous, funny and laddish, they’ll just be sad. And we won’t have a lot of toy Capones getting richer and richer. Even the economy will benefit from the vast amounts of money released into normal spending instead of being sucked into buying poisonous drugs from criminals.

  7. Frenchfarmer

    So, when drugs are legal and we have cars that drive themselves, how many people will be left in jail?

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