Cocaine seizure a major blow to drugs network

GARDAÍ believe they have dealt a major blow to a drugs network supplying cocaine throughout the country.

Thu, 25 Jul, 2002 - 01:00

Mícheál Lehane and Tony Purcell

This week’s seizure in Limerick of cocaine valued at 600,000 euro, was destined to be sold throughout the Mid-West and in Cork, Dublin, Sligo and Galway.

“There would be a lot of communication between criminals dealing in drugs in Limerick and other cities.

We have no doubt that some of these drugs would have ended up in places as far north as Sligo and even Dublin,” said Drug Squad detective John Heelan. The drugs were seized following a swoop on a house in Cahernorry, Ballysimon on Tuesday night.

Two legally-held shotguns were seized by gardaí after a follow-up operation in the Dooradoyle area of the city. A total of 40,000 euro in cash was also recovered in a raid on a house in Roxboro. Three men in their 30s and a woman in her 20s were arrested following the seizure. The four are held at Henry Street Garda Station under the Drugs Trafficking Act and can be held without charge for up to a week. The purity of the cocaine was still being tested by forensic experts at Garda HQ yesterday.

The haul followed a two-year investigation by gardaí attempting to smash a Mid-West-based supply network.

“There are more criminals dealing drugs than ever and that’s why a find like this is significant,” Det Heelan said.

This latest drugs and firearms seizure comes in the wake of a 500,000 euro haul earlier this year. Last March, cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis resin were found at Rear Cross on the Tipperary border, and at Hyde Road in Limerick.

Gardaí have become increasingly worried that cocaine is gaining a firm foothold in Limerick.

“Cannabis and ecstasy are still the most widely-used drugs but there has been a huge increase in cocaine which is very worrying,” Det Heelan added.

Children as young as 13 are using ecstasy in the city with some taking as many as five tablets a night. The discovery of more than 1.5m euro worth of drugs in the Mid-West this year follows seizures totalling 3m euro in 2001.