From this week’s Galway City Tribune –  Gardaí will be adding another new recruit to their specialist drugs unit in the city over the coming months when their first ever sniffer dog will take up duty.

Detective Superintendent Shane Cummins confirmed to the Galway City Tribune that the latest addition to the already ‘beefed up’ drugs unit would be arriving in the next nine to 12 weeks.

“This will be another very welcome and useful addition in terms of drugs detection in the Galway area – sniffer dogs have proven to be very effective in terms of drug detections with police forces across the world,” he said.

The new sniffer dog – normally either a Labrador or an English Springer Spaniel – will be based in the new Garda Regional HQ in Murrough, Renmore.

It can take up to 12 to 14 weeks to fully train a sniffer dog, but once trained, the dog and its Garda handler can start operational duty immediately.

Over recent months, the Galway Garda Drugs Unit has more than doubled in size with two sergeants and 20 Gardaí now involved in specialist surveillance and intelligence led operations.

Drug detections in the Galway area have increased significantly over the past 12 months with major seizures of cocaine and cannabis – Chief Superintendent Gerard Roche has said that tackling the sale and supply of illegal drugs is a ‘top priority’.

(File photo)
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the May 12 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.