Page 6

Operationally, there is continued high demand for our services. The nature of drugs submissions continues to change, with increased complexity in case types and variation in presentations and concealments, to which FSI is responding. There also continues to be an upward trend in the submission of large, high-value importation drug cases which are very demanding on resources both in FSI and across the Criminal Justice Sector. In 2025 FSI detected and notified the Irish and European authorities of ten instances of new substances or unusual presentations of drugs in the Irish market.

Page 18 Cocaine

Cocaine was the most commonly identified stimulant in Ireland across the period examined and the second most commonly identified compound after cannabis. Figure 4 illustrates the annual average cocaine content with importation content remaining broadly consistent over the 9-year period examined. An increase in street level content was noted for 2024 samples. The importation level content is consistently higher than the average at street level. Of all analytes examined, cocaine demonstrates the widest variety of adulterants. Benzocaine was the most commonly detected adulterant in 2024 followed by phenacetin, levamisole, caffeine and procaine. One unusual case received in 2024 was that of 24 containers of a black viscous substance containing concealed cocaine.