Galway’s top Garda has warned dealers and criminal gangs that there will be no let-up in the crackdown on drugs through 2024 – after a year that saw seizures of €2.5 million worth of illegal substances across the city and county.

Chief Superintendent Gerard Roche was also speaking in the wake of a number of headline swoops nationally that saw multi-million-euro consignments uncovered at both airports, seaports and indeed at sea as well.

Galway also saw one of the biggest ever drugs finds just before the start of 2023, when close on €1 million worth of cannabis plants were found at a ‘grow house’ in the Kilcolgan area of South Galway in a semi-industrial unit.

In a wide-ranging interview in this week’s Connacht Tribune, Chief Supt Roche said that one of the trends locally was ‘the spread’ of the seizures across rural towns and villages throughout the county.

“What we are seeing is the usage of drugs like cocaine at a recreational level, not just with young people, but right across the board in terms of age,” he said.

But he warned: “While the use of drugs like cocaine might be a lifestyle decision for some people, what they must realise, is that they are providing the income source for dangerous and violent criminal gangs.”

Caption: Chief Supt Gerard Roche…tough on dealers.

Read the full interview in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.