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Criminal gangs in the Ireland region are growing their businesses and receiving large shipments of drugs to resell despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the nighttime economy, Garda officials said.
Most pubs and clubs, traditionally associated with drug use, have been closed for almost a year. Parties and other social gatherings are also prohibited under Covid-19 regulations that aim to combat the spread of the virus.
However, gardaí says they continue to find evidence of a flourishing drug trade, with large sums of cash and drugs seized from Dublin gangs and repeated seizures of medium and large-scale remittances in the regions.
Garda sources said that a number of finds in the regions in recent days were now typical of finds in small and medium-sized towns and villages throughout the Republic; drugs found alongside significant amounts of cash reflecting the level of trade still carried out by gangs.
Limerick Gardaí discovered a € 30,000 shipment of cash and cannabis valued at € 11,000 in a series of searches. In another operation in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, Gardaí found amphetamines and cannabis valued at 66,000 euros.
Cocaine and LSD
In Salthill, Co Galway, Gardaí discovered cannabis and cocaine for a combined value of € 5,000. They also found € 26,000 in the same operation, which was triggered by the discovery of € 250 worth of cannabis when a man was arrested and searched.
In Portlaoise, Co Laois, Gardaí found a large quantity of cocaine, cannabis and LSD valued at € 187,000 along with almost € 3,000 in cash.
Garda officials believe that seizure activity in the Irish region is a barometer of drug trafficking resistance and evidence that there is an established demand for drugs throughout the Republic. However, they also believe that the closure of pubs and clubs, and the much smaller volume of people on the streets and vehicles on the highways, has helped them find large shipments of drugs.
‘Most notable’
“Many of the things that have happened [because of the pandemic] have forced drug gangs to change the way they do business and made them more visible when they move [drugs] around, ”said a source.
The same source added that with pubs and clubs closed, many street and retail traders were forced to travel to deliver drugs to customers and that each of those trips was a risk, especially with so many Covid checkpoints- 19 Garda on the roads. .
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