Gardaí seize €6,300 drugs in Bantry on Good Friday

Drugs worth more than €6,000 were seized by gardaí on duty at a Covid-19 checkpoint in Bantry on Good Friday.

Cocaine, with an estimated value of €6,300, was taken from the vehicle stopped at a checkpoint at Newtown in Bantry in the early hours of Friday, April 10^th.

Gardaí confirmed that it was shortly after midnight that they stopped a car driven by one male, and with two male passengers on board, and searched the vehicle.

A spokesperson for the gardaí said the driver is alleged to have been in possession of €4,200 of suspected cocaine. A second person, the front seat passenger, was also found to be in possession of a substance, which is suspected of being €2,100 worth of cocaine.

Gardaí said the substances will now be sent for analysis and that no arrests were made, but Bantry-based Supt Declan O’Sullivan confirmed that a file is to be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The superintendent described how ‘Operation Fanacht’ – an extensive checkpoint system – will continue to ensure public compliance with the travel restrictions introduced as part of COVID-19 public health guidelines.

He said: ‘The operation is in place to support travel restrictions to help flatten the curve of Covid-19, but it will also help enforce road traffic legislation.’

Furthermore, he said: ‘It will reduce the risk of collisions on the roads, and deny criminals the use of the road network.’