Fraud offences up by 26%; drug-related offences see 17% increase

The Central Statistics Office said the majority of these people were caught with drugs for personal use.

There were significant increases in a number of categories including fraud, sexual offences and drug-related incidents. File picture.

Gardaí have recorded an increase of 26% in fraud cases in 2019 compared to 2018 according to statistics released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The numbers have jumped from 6,296 reported cases in 2018 to 7,944 cases in 2019.

There was also a 17% rise in drug-related offences recorded by the Gardaí with 21,475 cases recorded last year, up from 18,309 cases in 2018.