Claims that garda cut cocaine with her badge

The garda arrested in a drugs-gang inquiry is at the centre of an investigation which includes a claim that she once cut cocaine with her garda badge.

The 34-year-old is said to have cut the drug at a party.

She comes from a family with a long and dedicated service to the garda force.

Her father is a retired detective who served the force with distinction.

The woman, from Sligo but based at a northside Dublin Garda station, has been suspended by Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan pending the outcome of investigations.

She once served in the Inishowen area of Donegal before transfer to Dublin.

She was held with a Sligo-based man in his 30s who has strong criminal links in the north-west.

Both were detained for 24 hours after they were arrested at 6.30pm on Friday evening in Sligo.

They were freed from Ballymote Garda station in Co Sligo on Saturday evening without charge.

Gardaí said a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The arrests resulted from an investigation by the Garda Organised Crime Unit, a frontline section which targets serious criminal gang activity.

The unit and Sligo officers have run a year-long investigation into the activities of a criminal gang operating in the north-west of the country.

A number of the gang’s key figures are currently serving prison sentences.