Gardaí have dented the operations of a major supplier of class A drugs in West Clare, after cocaine and heroin, with a combined value of €26,320, was seized during a day-long search operation in Kilrush this week.
The drugs were seized from a premises in the Chapel Street area on Tuesday, as part of a joint operation between the county’s Divisional Drug Squad and Kilrush gardaí.
Searches took place across the town of Kilrush and involved up to 12 gardaí.
One man was arrested following the detection on Tuesday and was detained under drug trafficking legislation. He was released without charge that night and a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Gardaí also confirmed that they are looking for a second man in connection with this seizure.
Chief Superintendent John Kerin said the drugs haul is among the highest in the county so far this year and warned that class A drugs have taken a foothold in the area, particularly in West Clare.
“What is significant about it is the type of drugs that were seized, both cocaine and heroin; these are the harder drugs. It has been apparent that a hardcore of 20 to 30 people have been using hard drugs in West Clare and that has brought its own problems,” he said.
Complimenting Superintendent John Galvin, Inspector Paul Slattery and Detective Padraig Frawley, the Chief Superintendent continued, “They have been working hard behind the scenes to make in-roads into sourcing where the drugs are coming from and who is distributing them. The capture on Tuesday was reflective of the work they put into it. This success didn’t come overnight and it has come after many months of work”.
He said, down the road, “there will be prosecutions” in this case and that “they will act as a deterrent to people using and distributing those drugs”.
Chief Supt Kerin added that the operation has definitely disrupted a major supplier in the Kilrush area.
He said, on a national scale, the seizure is not large but it is significant haul in local terms and he said this will “dent” the operations of a couple of dealers in West Clare.
“They do get back up and running quickly and we depend on the public for information and we would be appealing to anyone who has information to contact us,” he stated.
“We will work as assiduously as we possibly can with anyone passing on information,” Chief Supt Kerin concluded.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.