Prisoners willingly hand over hundreds of drug tablets following death of 21 year-old inmate

Hundreds of suspected nitazene tablets have been handed over voluntarily by inmates of Mountjoy Prison following a fatal overdose linked to the drug in the jail on Thursday morning.

The Irish Prison Service confirmed the death of an inmate in the Dublin prison was being linked to the lethal drug.

Adam D’Arcy, a 21 year-old Darndale prisoner, was found dead in his cell in Mountjoy Prison at 'unlock' at 8am on Thursday morning, sparking a major alert by Irish Prison Service bosses about the dangerous nitazene substance that is suspected to have claimed his life.

Sources confirmed to The Irish Mirror that since then, prisoners in Mountjoy have willingly handed over hundreds of drugs to prison bosses - over fears they too could overdose on the highly lethal substance.

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There were reportedly serious concerns for two other prisoners this week, who were also suspected of overdosing on the same substance.

It is understood that only for a prompt medical emergency response, both men could have died after they suffered suspected overdoses on the same week that D’Arcy died.

Darcy, who was serving a two-year sentence for drugs, was found to have pills in his cell which tested positive for a Nitazine-type substance.

More deadly than heroin and fentanyl, Nitazenes were linked to at least 54 deaths in the UK in the second half of 2023.

In a statement, the Irish Prison Service said it was issuing the urgent drug alert "to all prisons following analysis conducted by the HSE National Drug Treatment Centre Laboratory which confirmed the presence of a nitrazine type substance, associated with overdoses in Irish prisons, one of which is fatal.

"The Irish Prison Service is working closely with the HSE in response to this detection of Nitazene. Prison healthcare teams have adequate stocks of naloxone should clinical intervention be required," a spokesperson said.

Tributes were made to Adam Darcy online, with his aunt saying he had "his whole life ahead of him".

"The loss of my nephew Adam has been the most shocking news we have gotten, I've been praying so hard to my ma and da and all our other angels up there to please give his family the strength to get through this," she said.

A friend of Adam's wrote: "RIP Adam Darcy, you were some character pal. Hope you get the best bed in heaven, watch over your family & little girls. You'll be sadly missed, rest easy pal".