'Serious' drug problem to be addressed - Supt

Written by Marie Madden

Wednesday, 02 December 2009

The city's Chief Superintendent has acknowledged that the area has serious issues in relation to drugs, after it emerged that illegal substances with a street value of almost €2 million were seized by Gardai in the past 11 months.

Supt Tom Curley was speaking at a public meeting of the Joint Policing Committee on Monday night, as he released crime statistics for the city over the course of the year.

Over 8,569 offences were committed in the Galway West division since the beginning of the year, with public order offences and criminal damage making up the bulk of the arrests.

A total of 195 people were arrested for simple possession of drugs since last January, with 29 charged with intent to sell or supply. Both figures represented a decrease on figures for previous years.

Cannabis was the most common substance seized, with €1,070,000 worth of the drug recovered during the year. A large amount of this was seized in one incident in Limehill, Loughrea last June. Cocaine with a street value of €40,000 was also recovered by Gardai, as well as €25,000 worth of ecstasy and €5,000 worth of heroin.

Speaking on the figures, Supt Curley said the area had a "very active divisional drugs unit", who had a "huge input into seizures in other areas" in addition to work within the Galway West Division.

A six-week visit by the National Drugs Unit yielded 16 detections of drug dealing in the city, a low figure that, he said, he was "pleasantly surprised" by. However, he recognised that there were still serious issues to be addressed in relation to drug use in the city, saying that the use of illegal substances at 'Celtic-Tiger style' private parties made detection more difficult.

Burglaries and theft were on the rise in 2009, with an increase of eight per cent in the amount of burglaries committed year-on-year, bringing the total to 558. There were also 228 incidents of theft from vehicles, an increase of ten per cent on last year's figures, and 548 thefts from shops, a decrease of 21 per cent.

Thefts from the person rose by 19 per cent to 51, a figure that was largely attributed to pickpocketing during the Galway Races and an incident in which seven people were targeted in Eyre Square earlier this year.

There were 262 minor assaults in the city in 2009, a decrease of 21 per cent. However, more serious assaults causing harm increased by 16 per cent to 87, prompting calls for an increased garda presence in the city at night.

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