Huge drug haul in Garda swoop
DRUGS to the value of €85,000 have been taken off the street after a major Garda Operation across the district. Uniformed and detective gardaí from Enniscorthy and Gorey were joined by the armed response unit and the garda dog unit in carrying out raids at 15 different residences around the district, the majority of which were in the Enniscorthy area.
The lion’s share of the drugs were seized in Bunclody, with a total of €60,000 worth of cannabis uncovered. Other drugs seized included cocaine, MDMA and xanax, along with three kilos of cannabis and 23 mature cannabis plants.
A total of 15 arrests were made and files are currently being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The Operation took place under the remit of Operation Thor with a goal of targeting organised crime gangs and repeat offenders operating in the area.
GARDAÍ have dealt a major blow to criminality in the area ahead of Christmas as an Operation Thor ‘Day of Action’ saw them uncover drugs with a street value of €85,000 at locations across the District. Armed gardaí joined with units from Enniscorthy and Gorey, along with the garda dog unit, in carrying out searches at a variety of locations including Enniscorthy town and environs, Davidstown, Clonroche and Bunclody – where the lion’s share of drugs were uncovered; cannabis to the value of €60,000. Searches were also carried out at Riverchapel and Courtown.
A total of 15 premises were searched during the course of the operation which got underway at around 7 a.m. on Wednesday and lasted until the evening. Fourteen of the residences were searched under the misuse of drugs act, while one was searched under the theft and fraud act. Gardaí concluded the day having taken some three kilos of cannabis, 23 mature cannabis plants, cocaine, MDMA and xanax off the streets in what will have been a bitter blow to the drugs supply network in the area.
A total of 15 arrests were made over the course of the day, some of whom were brought before that day’s sitting of the District Court on foot of oustanding bench warrants. A garda spokesman, however, has said that nobody has been formally charged as a direct result of the raids as of yet, however, files are currently being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The intelligence-led operation is being chalked up as a major win for gardaí, with the very purpose of Operation Thor being to ‘ target organised crime gangs and repeat offenders’.
‘It’s always nice to get drugs like that off the streets,’ an Enniscorthy Garda spokesman said.
‘We have a couple of days like this a year under the remit of Operation Thor. It’s great to see drugs being taken off the streets, particularly in areas like Bunclody where perhaps we don’t have the same garda presence that we used to. It lets these criminals know that we’re still out there and we’re still watching.’