Hauls of heroin and powerful guns surged significantly last year

Seizures of heroin, ecstasy, and tranquillisers increased significantly last year, according to the Garda Annual Report 2015.

Greater quantities of high-powered weapons were also confiscated, including assault rifles and sub-machine guns.

A total of 638 illegal firearms were seized, including 61 pistols and revolvers (compared to 54 in 2014), 10 assault rifles (two in 2014) and seven sub-machine guns (three in 2014).