Prime Time report detailing how children are exposed to drug trade set to air tonight

Children as young as seven are being groomed by criminal gangs to transport drugs and cash in areas around Ireland, according to a Prime Time report set to air tonight.

Prime Time interviewed young people formerly involved in the drug trade and frontline workers supporting affected communities.

Over several weeks of filming, Prime Time observed minors openly selling drugs in parts of Dublin city centre, including near O’Connell Bridge. In one inner city location, teenagers travelling on e-scooters were filmed conducting drug transactions in broad daylight, while spotters appeared to warn them of approaching Garda patrols.

The programme also spoke to young people who had become involved in the drug trade as children. One contributor, identified as "Jonathan", described how vulnerable children are recruited to transport drugs and cash because they are unlikely to attract suspicion.

"When you see a child with a backpack at 9am, you would assume the child is in a uniform walking down the road to school,” he said. "Instead, that child has two kilogrammes of cocaine in their backpack, and they're on the way to deliver it."

Jonathan, now in his late teens, said children as young as seven or eight are being used to carry drugs and related paraphernalia.

"People in third or fourth class are going around with a backpack full of drugs, scales and paraphernalia. It’s ludicrous."

The issue has also been raised by people working in some schools to public representatives. Fine Gael TD Paula Butterly said teachers in the Drogheda area had reported concerns directly to her.

"I've been made aware of the fact that children as young as seven are involved in drug muling, bringing drugs in their school bags as far as the school gates, and then at an older age, from nine and ten years old, being brought in to sell drugs, she said."

Criminologist Trina O’Connor reviewed Prime Time’s hidden filming footage.
"It's very troubling, particularly the age of them, many of them are being groomed, into serious criminality," she said.

"It's really troubling to see somebody that young dealing in an open area like that so blatantly."

In the programme tonight, reporter Conor McMorrow highlights growing concerns among community workers, educators and policymakers about the exploitation of children by organised crime networks and the increasing visibility of youth involvement in the drug trade.

The report will air tonight at 9:35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player and the full report is on rte.ie/primetime.