Anger over Tuam drugs unit being phased out
The Garda authorities in Galway are being approached with a view to reviving the drugs unit in Tuam following concerns that its abolition will result in a scourge of illegal substances.
And the matter is to be put on the agenda of a Joint Policing Committee meeting that will be held in the town later this month.
A local councillor said that he discovered to his horror that the drugs unit in Tuam had ceased to exist in recent months following the changes in Garda rostering.
There have been two major drugs hauls in the Tuam and North Galway so far this year – latest one in the Cloonmore area where €400,000 worth of cannabis was seized by the regional drugs unit.
Earlier on in the years there was another significant drugs seizures in the house in the Milltown area and in both cases there were arrests by Gardai.
But now Cllr. Tom Reilly said that while these drugs seizures were welcome, there should also be an equal concentration on those who are dabbling in smaller amounts.
He said that there had been a drugs unit in Tuam with two members of the Gardai attached to it and that they had been very effective in controlling the circulation of drugs in the town.
“Then the Gardai introduced a new rostering system and first of all one of the members of the drugs unit was returned to uniform and then I learned that the specialised drugs unit in Tuam now ceases to exist.
“This is an unacceptable move by the Garda authorities and it is something that has to be reversed because there is still a proliferation of drugs in the Tuam area and while the problem will never be solved, it has to be contained to some degree”, Cllr. Reilly added.
The drugs unit in Tuam was established back in 2006 and three years later, figures showed that detections for drugs had increased by more than 20% over that period.
For more on this story, see the current issue of the Connacht Tribune