A TEENAGER who was arrested by Gardaí last night after being found driving with cocaine, cash, and a machete outside Limerick City is to go before a special court sitting today.
According to Gardaí, a 19-year-old man was arrested last night (Friday August 2) as part of an ongoing investigation into the sale and supply of drugs and related criminal activity in the Limerick area.
The teen was stopped by Gardaí from Roxboro Road Garda Station in the Patrickswell area shortly after 8pm last night.
During a search of the car, Gardaí found suspected cocaine worth €9,000, €1,000 in cash, and a machete.
The teen, who was the only one in the car at the time, was arrested and detained under the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. He has since been charged and is expected to go before a special sitting of Ennis District Court later today.
The arrest was made as part of Operation Tara – a nationwide anti-drugs campaign focusing on disrupting, dismantling, and prosecuting drug trafficking networks – and comes only days after a major drugs and cash haul by Gardaí in Limerick working under under the same operation.
Almost €700,000 in cash, cocaine, cannabis, and heroin was seized after a series of raids in the St Mary’s Park area of Limerick City this past Wednesday and Thursday under Operation Tara.
It is unknown whether yesterday’s cash and cocaine seizure is related to the massive seizures earlier in the week.
A man in his 30s, a woman in her 50s, and a man in his late teens were arrested in connection with these raids.
The man in his 30s was charged and went before a special sitting of Nenagh District Court yesterday. The woman in her 50s has been charged and will today go before a special sitting of Ennis District Court.
The man in his late teens, according to Gardaí, still remains in custody and has yet to be charged.
Gardaí say investigations into the seizures are ongoing, and that all drugs seized have been sent to Forensic Science Ireland for further analysis.
