Republican Action Against Drugs

Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) was an Irish republican vigilante group that formed in 2008. The group was primarily active in Derry and surrounding counties. RAAD claimed to have no political agenda; instead, their primary objective was to eliminate drug dealers from their community. However, RAAD still defined itself as a Republican group and was supposedly supported by former members of the Provisional IRA and Sein Fein. RAAD commonly threatened and attacked suspected drug dealers in Derry and Belfast. RAAD members often shot men in the legs or attacked them with pipe bombs as punishments for distributing drugs and narcotics. In 2012, RAAD claimed their first killing, murdering a man in County Donegal. Later that year, RAAD launched its first attack against the PSNI, claiming the attack was a “"a direct response to increased and ever more brutal attacks on republicans and their families.” In July 2012, RAAD announced it was merging with the Real IRA and several other republican groups to form the New IRA.