African gangs using front businesses as bases in inner-city Dublin are the main suppliers to the city's growing market for the highly addictive substance methamphetamine, known as crystal meth.

The drug has taken serious hold in recent months, gardai say, after having been only sporadically available in recent years.

Gardai are aware of one woman, both an addict and street dealer of the drug, who is six months pregnant.

The spread of the drug is said to be responsible for the increase in the "zombie-like" users who are coming into Dublin city centre in large numbers to buy from the, mainly, Nigerian suppliers who are importing the drug from Africa.

One of the effects of smoking methamphetamine is damage to the gums, known as 'meth mouth', which causes sunken cheeks.

Use of the drug over a period of even just months results in dramatic facial changes which have been detailed on many occasions by police forces in the US showing 'before and after' pictures of addicts. Regular users lose their teeth in a relatively short period.

Gardai in north-west Dublin say there has been a significant increase in the availability of the drug, which is cheap – at €25 a 'bag', it is less than half the price of crack cocaine.

Until last year, crystal meth was described as a peripheral drug. Heroin and its synthetic variants were the most commonly available drugs to the city's population of 20,000 to 30,000 addicts.

With free prescriptions of methadone, and some 18 health clinics in Dublin city centre, the city's heroin addicts had become largely stabilised, but recently gardai have been monitoring a very apparent downturn in their health and appearance, particularly in young addicts.

They attribute this to the rise of crystal meth. Gardai are targeting the Africans involved in the importing and supply of the drug.

Meth addiction is very often associated with increased violent behaviour and very serious withdrawal effects that are not tempered by methadone.

The first major seizure of the drug was at Dublin Airport in September 2011 when 2.5kg was found on an African national who had travelled from South Africa.

The haul had a street value estimated at €250,000. Since then, there have been a noted increase in the number of detections of the drug. It appears the African gangs have established a reliable route for importing the drug.

The African gangs operating in Dublin city centre are based in a number of premises that could be seen last week being visited by addicts.

The gangs also have drivers who deliver the drugs to established Irish dealers and who operate from apartments in the inner city.

Irish Independent