Five men arrested and drugs, cash and property seized in Co Clare

Gardaí have arrested five people following early morning raids at several unauthorised sites in Co Clare.

Four men, all in their 20s, were initially arrested and are being questioned in relation to an alleged drugs, road traffic and domestic violence offences.

A fifth man in his 30s was arrested later as part of the ongoing intelligence-led operation which concentrated on sites in the Ennis area.

Armed detectives and uniformed Gardaí from Ennis, Shannon, Kilrush and Ennistymon were assisted by members of the Regional Armed Support Unit as well as the divisional warrants, community policing, drugs and dog units.

One of the raids is known to have taken place at an illegal caravan site on the Kilrush road on the outskirts of Ennis.

A large quantity of drugs has been seized along with cash and property believed to have been stolen in recent incidents.

A Garda spokesman confirmed: “We carried out an operation this morning that involved a number of searches as part of ongoing investigations into burglaries and thefts in Ennis area in recent months.

“A number of people have been arrested in connection with the alleged sale and supply of drugs, breach of a safety order and drunk driving.

“Items were also seized during these searches and our investigations are continuing.”

The searches were carried as part of an Operation Thor day of action.

Gardaí seized suspected stolen power tools, cocaine with an estimated street value of €6,000 (pending analysis), prescription drugs with a value of €1,000 and a large sum of cash.

The searches involved armed detectives and uniformed Gardaí from Ennis, Shannon, Kilrush and Ennistymon. The multi-agency operations also involed Clare Divisional Drugs Unit, Roads Policing Unit, Ennis Warrants Unit, Community Police, Western Region Armed Support Units, the Limerick Divisional Drugs Garda & Dog as well as officers from Revenue’s Customs service, Department of Social Welfare and the Road Safety Authority (RSA).