GARDAI in Dublin are seizing an average of more than £9,000 worth of drugs a day under Operation Dochas, the force's anti drug initiative in the city, according to the latest official figures.
Drugs with a street value of about £1.1 million have been seized in the four months since Operation Dochas ("Hope") was launched, the Assistant Garda Commissioner for Dublin, Mr Tom King, said yesterday.
Mr King said that between October 7th last - when Dochas began - and the end of January, the 536 officers engaged in the operation had made 2,198 drug related arrests. These had resulted in charges on 1,906 occasions. People had been stopped and searched on more than 12,000 occasions, while 857 searches of premises were made.
He added that the Garda had mounted checkpoints on more than 5,000 occasions "in areas where we expected drugs were moving about". Gardai had issued more than 3,000 summonses, mainly for the smallest drug finds.
Mr King said he did not have a breakdown of the amounts of each drug found, but that large amounts of heroin and ecstasy and cannabis were seized, along with smaller amounts of LSD and only one seizure of cocaine.
Operation Dochas has also involved research into the levels of drug use throughout the city. The research is expected to show that while there has been a focus on drug abuse in the north and south inner city, the scale of the drug problem in the suburbs of west Dublin has grown.
Mr King said the Garda was working successfully with the public in the city, but in one or two areas there was "a small minority which is affecting the opportunity for communities to take advantage of what is happening".
He said the Garda would continue to pursue and prosecute "people who break down doors, burn people out of their homes, or cut off ears". The Garda would work happily with people who were trying to improve their communities, but "what we can't do is go along with people who break the law".
. Dublin Corporation is holding a conference on drugs in Dublin next Friday and Saturday, in Dublin Castle.