HC Deb 18 May 2004 vol 421 c943W
David Burnside

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of revenues received by(a) the Provisional IRA, (b) the official IRA, (c) the Irish National Liberation Army, (d) the Ulster Defence Association, (e) the Ulster Volunteer Force and (f) the Loyalist Volunteer Force from illegal dealing and trading in drugs in the last five years. [173480]

Mr. Pearson

The involvement of paramilitary organisations in organised crime, including trafficking and supply of drugs, has been documented by the Independent Monitoring Commission in its report of 20 April and by the Organised Crime Task Force in its "Threat Assessment and Strategy" which was published on 11 May 2004.

It is not possible, however, to estimate with any precision how much revenue paramilitary groups generate from dealing and trading in illegal drugs.