Gardaí in Dublin arrested seven people on New Year's Eve after seizing cocaine and MDMA worth four and a half thousand euro.
Pink, blue, black and tan tablets were found along with amounts of white powder in small packages.
Gardaí in Pearse Street carried out multiple searches for drugs in the south inner Dublin city area last night resulting in approximately €4,500 worth of drugs seized and 7 arrests. All 7 suspects were charged and appeared before court this morning. pic.twitter.com/rfeim7m6Xk
— Garda Info (@gardainfo) January 1, 2020
Officers from Pearse Street Garda on patrol in the south inner city made the arrests throughout the evening and after midnight.
All seven of those arrested have been charged and brought before court.
Drug Driving
Last night's arrests follow the news that arrests on suspicion of drug driving trebled in the first nine months of 2019 -- compared with the year before.
Figures in today's Irish Independent reveal Gardai stopped 9658 drivers on suspicion of driving under the influence of drink or drugs.
Thirteen per cent were specifically for drug-driving - that's double the amount for the previous year.
Dublin's five garda regions accounted for 229 arrests.
Drink-driving is expected to be slightly down for 2019 however the Road Safety Authority say drug-taking is more prevalent because the economy is stronger which is having a knock-on effect.
16 people were arrested on suspicion of drug driving on Christmas Day alone -- up from just 11 in 2018.
Of the sixteen arrested, three are believed to have had cocaine in their system while a fourth is suspected to have taken cannabis.
Chief Superintendent Paul Cleary from the Garda National Policing Bureau says some people just aren't getting the message.
