More than €160,000 cocaine seized and man (20s) arrested in Co Galway

Ellen O'Donoghue

A man in his 20s has been arrested after cocaine with an estimated street value of €161,000 was seized in Killimor, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, on Monday.

Gardaí from the Galway Divisional Drugs unit searched a residential property in Killimor and recovered the drugs, as part of Operation Tara and ongoing investigations targeting the sale and distribution of controlled drugs and associated criminal activity in the area.

The man was arrested and detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at a station in the Garda North Western region.

He has since been released without charge pending the preparation of a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The drugs are to be sent for analysis to Forensic Science Ireland (FSI).

Investigations are ongoing, a garda statement said.

Operation Tara is described as an enhanced national anti-drugs strategy, which was launched in July 2021.