Teenager arrested in connection with operation targeting organised criminal activity

GARDAI have seized a gun, bullets and heroin during a major raid on a house in Limerick city this Sunday.

A garda spokesperson said the seizures are part of ongoing investigations into organised criminal activity and the sale and supply of drugs in the area.

“Limerick Divisional Drugs Unit searched a residential property at Island Road and seized an automatic pistol, ammunition and suspected diamorphine with an estimated street value of €21,700.

“An adult male, aged in his late teens, was arrested and has been detained at a station in the Garda Southern Region under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007,” said a garda spokesperson.

The drugs will be sent to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis while the firearm and ammunition will be forwarded for technical examination by the Ballistics Section of the Garda Technical Bureau.

“Investigations are ongoing,” said a garda spokesperson.

This seizure in Limerick city forms part of Operation Tara – an enhanced national anti-drugs strategy, which was launched by the Garda Commissioner in July 2021.

The focus of Operation Tara is to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug trafficking networks, at all levels – international, national, local – involved in the importation, distribution, cultivation, production, local sale and supply of controlled drugs.