There was more than €3 million worth of cannabis seized in rural districts between January 1 and October 31 this year by Galway gardai who will undergo even further extensive training and upskilling in order to crack down on drug related crime.
Addressing the members of the Galway County Joint Policing Committee on Monday, Chief Superintendent Tom Curley said that drug related crime is an area which is “going to received major attention” and that many gardai officers in the district have already benefited from further training. He made the comment after presenting the contents of the Garda Report which showed that between January 1 and October 31 this year cannabis seizures totaling €3,202,050 had been made, with the majority of cases involving grow houses. The next biggest seizures were in cocaine which came to a total of €21,160, followed by heroin at €13,450, and ecstasy at €3,850.
Complimenting the Galway Garda drugs unit on its work in seizing such a vast amount of cannabis, county councillor Jimmy McClearn said that it was particularly impressive given the terrain of the county, much of it being in remote areas.
The Garda Report also showed the total incidents of crime in the rural districts of the county from January 1 to October 31 to be 5,575, down 21.6 per cent from figures during the same period last year. The number of burglaries detected during the same period was 342, down 15.1 per cent from last year’s figures. Other figures show that there were 174 thefts from an MPV - up 2.3 per cent, 17 incidents from a person - 88 per cent, the majority of which are thefts of a mobile phone and a substantial number are before the courts. There were 171 incidents of thefts from a shop, which was up 27.6 per cent, and reflects the national trend which, according to Chief Supt Curley, always experiences an increase during times of austerity.
Chief Supt Curley said that although the figure for total number of crime incidents was good “we can’t be complacent” and must “continue to try to reduce the level of crime particularly burglaries,” with the help of neighbourhood watch and text alert schemes. He added that gardai are in contact with these community schemes, that there is a liaison person, and that the text alert scheme would be further expanded throughout the county with plans to have all schemes fully registered by the first quarter of 2014.
