Latest news with #DrewHarris
Irish Daily Mirror
4 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Man arrested after over €100,000 of cannabis plants seized following Louth raid
One man has been arrested after Gardaí seized over €100,000 of cannabis plants following a Louth raid. Late last night Thursday, 19 June, as part of Operation Tara and ongoing investigations into the sale and supply of drugs and related criminal activity, Gardaí attached to the Dundalk Drugs Unit assisted by Dundalk Detective and Crime Units executed a search under warrant at a residence in Dundalk, Louth. During the course of the search, approximately 126 mature cannabis plants, with an estimated street value of €100,800 was seized (analysis pending), along with cannabis with an estimated value of €34,000 which was packaged and ready for onward sale and supply. A man, aged in his late 20s was arrested at the scene in connection with the investigation and is currently detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996 at a Garda station in Co. Louth. He has since been charged and appeared before a special sitting of Dundalk District Court this afternoon at 4pm on June 20. The drugs will be sent for analysis to Forensic Science Ireland (FSI). This seizure forms part of Operation Tara; an enhanced national anti-drugs strategy, which was launched by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on July 2, 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.
BreakingNews.ie
4 hours ago
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Taoiseach backs Garda Commissioner after lack of clarity from minister
The Taoiseach has backed the Garda Commissioner days after the Justice Minister did not take an opportunity to express confidence in the policing chief. On Tuesday, Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan was asked about his contact with Commissioner Drew Harris over a series of disclosures and developments about how the service deals with matters around guns. Advertisement This included the storage of firearms at garda headquarters, defective gun holsters, and garda interactions with a man facing gun charges who later died by suicide. At a press conference, Mr O'Callaghan said he had confidence that An Garda Síochána was dealing with the matters correctly. However, he did not explicitly answer in the affirmative after being specifically asked if he had full confidence in Mr Harris. The minister said: 'I'm not the person who's there to supervise operationally what An Garda Síochána are doing.' Advertisement He added: 'I ask the Commissioner questions that are of concern to me, he gives me answers in respect to them, that communication is confidential. 'I have no difficulty in telling you the issues I raised with him, obviously what he says back to me is a confidential process.' His Fianna Fáil party leader and Taoiseach Micheál Martin, however, said the Commissioner had served with 'dedication and commitment'. Asked on Friday if he had confidence in Mr Harris, Mr Martin said: 'I have confidence in the Commissioner. Advertisement 'I think, he has served very diligently over a long number of years. 'His term has come to an end, and the process is on the way for replacement.' While further pressed as the press conference closed on whether the Justice Minister should apologise, the Taoiseach did not provide a reply. Mr Harris is due to retire on September 1, after the Cabinet agreed a two-month extension beyond an earlier end date of June 1. Advertisement
Irish Examiner
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Garda bosses urge public to engage with local stations
Garda bosses have moved to reassure people that they should continue to call their local Garda station, whether it just to report concerns, seek advice, or request a response to an incident. The development follows an Oireachtas committee hearing earlier this week where government and opposition politicians — from Cork, Galway, the border, and Dublin — raised concerns about Garda visibility and responses to calls for help. The Oireachtas justice committee was conducting a session with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and his two deputy commissioners Shawna Coxon and Justin Kelly. Specific concerns were raised at the committee by Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin Bay North, Tom Brabazon, who criticised what he said was a 'new policy' where all members of the public were being told to ring 999 for a Garda response, rather than their local station. He said this was 'not working' as many people thought 999 was only for emergencies and not for calls about anti-social behaviour or 'quality of life' issues. Garda HQ issued a lengthy video on Friday urging people to ring their local station if they feel they need to, even if they do not think it is in relation to a serious crime. Speaking in the video, Assistant Commissioner for the Dublin Metropolitan Region, Paul Cleary, said: 'I want to reassure the public that our local garda stations are also accessible, including by phone, and we want the public to continue to contact their local station.' He said this contact played 'a vital role' in the organisation's service to local communities. 'Around 60% of all calls to local Garda stations are not actually calls for service requiring Garda assistance at an incident,' he said. 'They are people reaching out for information, advice, highlighting local concerns and seeking reassurance and connection and it's very important that we retain this contact. 'So we would encourage people to continue to engage with your local Garda station. "If your call does require a Garda attendance at an incident it will be forwarded immediately to the Regional Control Centre for triage and dispatch.' Mr Cleary said that the force's four regional control centres — in Dublin, Cork, Waterford, and Galway — received 1.2m calls from the public in 2024. He pointed out that 38% of these calls were transferred from local Garda stations as part of the Garda's Call Safe Garda management system. He said this system seeks to ensure that An Garda Síochána handles emergency and urgent calls consistently, allowing frontline members to respond faster and with greater accuracy. Mr Cleary said: 'I am aware of some recent commentary regarding Garda response times to calls for service, and I want to take this opportunity to clarify the position with accurate information from the independent Emergency Call Answering Service (ECAS). 'Since the launch of Garda Safe, our call answer times have improved across our regional control centres by up to 20% and the average time taken to answer calls in the regional control centres is now 17 seconds. "The time spent on these calls averages is just over two minutes. We have specially trained Garda safe call takers and dispatchers who can quickly assess the situation and provide the right response.' He finished by saying: 'I would like to be clear, if there is an emergency or if you need immediate Garda assistance, you should always call 999 or 112. This is the quickest route to getting the emergency policing service you need.' Read More Parents to challenge education minister in High Court over lack of school places
Irish Times
12-06-2025
- Irish Times
Evan Fitzgerald case: How ‘controlled deliveries' are used in Garda sting operations
The 'controlled delivery' of illicit items – which can include drugs and guns – is used frequently by gardaí, especially when trying to catch people attempting to import drugs into the Republic. While it is rarely spoken of, mainly because gardaí want to keep their trade craft secret, it was aired very publicly this week at an Oireachtas justice committee. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris confirmed Evan Fitzgerald, the armed 22-year-old who took his own life in a Carlow shopping centre on the June bank holiday weekend, had been charged with gun crimes after a 'controlled delivery' of firearms last year. On that occasion, gardaí received a tip-off from international policing agency Interpol that unidentified parties in Ireland were active on the darknet trying to buy guns. Gardaí acted on that intelligence, going on to the darknet and offering guns to the suspects. A face-to-face meeting was later arranged, with the guns and money exchanged. Mr Fitzgerald, who did not realise he was dealing with undercover gardaí running a sting operation , was arrested. The guns were two firearms that were in Garda stores and had been decommissioned. READ MORE Mr Fitzgerald was charged with four offences: possession of a machine gun and pistol and two different ammunition types. A search of an address linked to him yielded a variety of ammunition and powers to make explosive devices, resulting in nine other charges. [ Carlow gunman disclosure set to lead to scrutiny of An Garda Síochána Opens in new window ] The case was unusual in that the source of the guns – the person who offered them for sale on the darknet – was actually an undercover detective. Both techniques – controlled deliveries and police officers posing as criminals – are used by international law enforcement. They are also included in the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime. The UN defines organised crime as three or more people working together to commit at least one serious crime punishable by at least four years in jail and from which they derive financial or material gain. A controlled delivery occurs when illegal items are detected – usually in the postal system or in freight – on their way to the person trying to procure them. The authorities take control of the delivery in order to catch the person the items are destined for. In Ireland, this includes undercover gardaí dressing as postal workers, or couriers, to make a delivery and then arrest a suspect. [ Undercover gardaí supplied Carlow gunman with firearms and ammunition, Oireachtas hears Opens in new window ] The UN also deals specifically with policing techniques in which undercover officers effectively insert themselves into a crime in the planning. It says the crime should be in the planning before the police get involved. If a police officer 'originated the idea of the crime and induced the accused to engage in it' this would be used as grounds for defence in some jurisdictions'. A range of Garda sting operations have been reported in Ireland, including gardaí posing as drug users and even as criminals selling drugs or guns. In 2017, Ahmed Ayadi, then aged 25 years and with an address in the Lawn, Boden Park, Rathfarnham, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possessing a 9mm calibre Glock semi-automatic pistol in suspicious circumstances. Gardaí learned he was involved in the drug trade and that he wanted to buy a gun. Undercover gardaí posed as criminals selling guns. He chose a Glock, paying €450. As he left the transaction location, his car was stopped and he was arrested and charged. He was jailed for five years and also admitted possessing drugs. [ 'The country is going to the dogs': How agitators exploited the Carlow shooting Opens in new window ] In 2013, Operation Trident saw undercover gardaí infiltrate the drug gang run by Dubliner Freddie Thompson, who became a significant figure in the Kinahan cartel's Irish operation, running it for a time. The undercover gardaí were given new identities and even moved into properties in the Crumlin area, buying and selling drugs and being arrested to help them infiltrate the gang – all with close co-operation between the Garda and the Director of Public Prosecutions. However, after some details of the operation appeared in the media, the operation was cancelled and five undercover gardaí were withdrawn, though 29 suspects were arrested on the basis of their work. In 2013 a CIÉ bus driver – Sunny Idah, then aged 36 – was jailed for 13 years. He was trying to recruit people to smuggle cocaine from Brazil to Ireland by swallowing the drugs. Two undercover gardaí posed as would-be couriers and when they recorded Idah – with addresses at Lipton Court, Dublin – offering them €5,000 to take on the task, he was charged.
Irish Times
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Water cannons and body-worn cameras: How policing has changed under Drew Harris
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris had much to show the media at an event at Garda HQ on Monday . New riot gear, a massive water canon, smart body-worn cameras, hand-held computers and more secure vehicles, part of the force's fleet, the largest ever. Questions why one piece of useful equipment – a cadaver dog – was not on the list of new acquisitions were eagerly asked by the media, and easily answered by Harris. The new kit got the attention but central to the event was the launch of a new report, Transforming An Garda Síochána, detailing the advances made in modernising the force since 2018. READ MORE That was the year when the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland reported its finding and recommendations, laying out a roadmap for the years ahead; it was also the year Harris was appointed. The good news kept coming but never far from any discussion of modern policing is the ongoing failure to recruit and retain gardaí. And then there's the matter of Harris's unpopularity with the rank-and-file. Crime and security editor Conor Lally was at Garda HQ and he tells In the News how the commissioner, who is due to finish up in September, will be remembered. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan
