Fianna Fáil’s newly appointed Spokesperson on National Drugs Strategy and Urban Affairs, John Curran TD has said that last night’s Garda seizure of close to €4 million euro worth of illicit drugs indicates that the sale and supply of narcotics in Ireland shows no sign of slowing down. Recently four separate Garda operations across Dublin and Limerick uncovered significant amounts of illegally imported drugs and a number of arrests were made.
The Dublin Mid-West TD commented, “Recent operations, led by officers from the Garda’s National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and Gardaí stationed across the city assure the public that work is ongoing in the fight to defeat organised and drug related crime in our urban communities. I must commend their ongoing work in this regard. “It’s clear from trends in supply that more people than ever before are taking illegal drugs and that indicates that this is far from a Dublin specific issue. The sale and distribution of illegal narcotics has long taken hold elsewhere around the country.
“The Cross Border Organised Crime Threat Assessment report published last month revealed that cocaine use in Ireland is close to reaching its 2007 peak. Where there is a demand there is a supply and no doubt last night’s quantity was set for the social circuits ahead of Christmas. That’s the sad reality and most recreational users conveniently ignore the broader impact of their drug use and its direct links to criminality. “Recent hauls in other urban centres such as Cork and Limerick demonstrate that curtailing the flow of drugs into and around Ireland requires huge resources, co-ordination, manpower and even greater intelligence sharing with international colleagues.
“Local drug units operating within An Garda Síochana in communities across the country should be given every State support to continue to intercept hauls of this size to obstruct the sale of drugs on our streets,” he concluded.
