Garda chief hopes for Dog Support Unit in Galway

A business case has to be made to Garda headquarters for a new Dog Support Unit for use in drug detection in Galway.

Chief Superintendent Tom Curley confirmed this week that he is ‘actively pursuing’ the matter and he hopes to have a dog unit based in the new regional headquarters in Galway City when it opens next year.

He made the comments during a discussion on combatting drugs at a meeting of the County Galway Joint Policing Committee (JPC) held this week.

The Chief Supt told the meeting that during the first eight months of this year, there have been 27 seizures of drugs for sale or supply in the county (up from 24 in the same period last year), with a further 111 cases of simple possession of drugs (down from 115).

Among the drugs seized were cannabis with a street value of almost €782,000; cocaine valued at almost €27,000; ecstasy valued at €320 and heroin worth €5.

Cllr Aidan Donohue asked if it was a sign of the times that there is more money in the economy, leading to more cannabis use or if it’s down to more detection of grow houses.

Chief Supt Curley said the comparative figure for cannabis seizures in 2016 would not be too different from the current year.

“We have an excellent Divisional Drugs Unit under Peter McGuinness, he has an excellent team in the districts. We have two Gardaí in each of the districts, which has been of huge benefit to us in the fight against drugs.

“Clifden is an example, where in the space of three or four months, we had three big seizures. There’s more buy-in by the public; people are out there watching, they see strange cars coming at different times of the day and night, and we’re working very well together. That’s the reason why the figures are so good,” he said.

Cllr Noel Thomas said the cannabis figures was “huge”, and wondered if a lot of Garda resources were being used on targeting cannabis, and perhaps it was more than necessary considering that elsewhere in the world, the drug is being legalised.

He said the effects of alcohol and cannabis, while some of the other drugs seized were “completely mind-altering and dangerous”, and it would be great if more resources could be channelled towards targeting them.

Cllr Thomas said he is not an ambassador for the use of cannabis, does not use it himself and it is not good for you, and believes it is addictive, but wondered if the Gardaí are fighting a losing battle.

Cllr Tom Healy said he had grave concerns about new substances coming onto the market. There was a very good understanding of the “classical drugs” over the past 50 years, but new substances are effectively untested and are proliferating through cheap manufacturing in places like China, and being sent through the mail. He asked what Gardaí were doing to familiarise themselves with the new substances.

Chief Supt Curley said he was not getting into a debate on the legalisation of cannabis, but it could be clearly seen that there is huge demand for it and people are making millions from its sale and supply.

“If we see illegal drugs, we will investigate, detect and arrest,” he said.

“We work very closely with the National Drugs Unit. In the last number of weeks, we had the Medicines Board down. Any agencies out there, we’re working with them.

“With our new building in Murrough [opposite GMIT in Galway], I’m actively pursuing a business case for a dog unit. It would be of huge benefit in relation to the detection of illegal drugs. We’re continuing to upskill,” said the Chief Supt.