Ecstasy seizure highlights problem
The single haul of ecstasy, with a street value of around €15 million, dwarfs annual seizures of the drug in previous years.
It follows a long list of drug seizures in recent weeks and months and sends a clear signal about the sheer amount of drugs coming into the country.
Det Chief Supt Cormac Gordan of the Garda National Drugs Unit (GDNU) confirmed that more drugs had been seized so far this year compared to previous years.
“We are busier than last year. The ecstasy seized at the weekend alone is more than was seized for the whole of last year.
“It may be because of more availability, that there’s more of it around, or it could be because of more people being involved in drug enforcement.
Saturday’s haul of ecstasy brings to around 20m the amount of drugs seized in little over a week:
€100,000 worth of ecstasy was seized last Saturday in Ballymun, north Dublin.
5kgs of heroin, worth €1m, was seized last Tuesday by the GNDU and Customs in Rathgar, Dublin.
On the same day, the Limerick Drugs Unit, the GNDU and Customs seized 1.5kgs of heroin, worth €250,000 in Limerick.
20,000 ecstasy tablets, worth €250,000, were seized on March 30 in Co Laois by the GNDU.
€1m worth of cannabis resin was seized on March 28 in Portlaoise by local garda.
On the same day, customs officers at Rosslare Harbour seized 96,000 ecstasy tablets and 45kg of amphetamine, together worth €2m.
On the same day, gardaí seized €400,000 worth of cannabis resin in Cork City. In all cases arrests were made.
Justice Minister Michael McDowell told the Seanad last week that in the first few months of 2003, the Gardaí and the Customs Service had seized over €23m of cannabis and over €1.5m worth of cocaine.
In Saturday’s operation officers from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI), the GNDU and the National Surveillance Unit, stopped a car in the St Margarets area of north Dublin. They found a quantity of ecstasy and arrested a man.
In a follow-up operation in Ashbourne a further three men were arrested and another substantial amount of ecstasy was seized.
Two men were charged on Sunday and brought before Dublin District Court again yesterday in relation to the find. The other two were released.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
