'Positive start' for new regional drugs unit

There has been a 'positive start' to the life of the newly-appointed regional Garda drugs unit, according to Divisional Chief Superintendent Christopher Mangan.

Speaking at the meeting of the county Joint Policing Committee, he told members that the six-member unit, based out of Cootehill, have already been involved in several successful operations targeting the drugs trade locally.
Speaking to The Anglo-Celt, Chief Supt Mangan expanded upon his comments to the meeting, stating: 'It has been positive so far, it certainly has. They have already been involved in a number of operations, one involving a growhouse where a person was arrested.
'They also stopped a car more recently than that where there was a substantial cash find contained within, what is believed to have been the proceeds of crime. They are all now subject to the usual legal processes.'
The Cavan-Monaghan divisional drugs unit was reinstated earlier this year having been disbanded back in 2012.
The move has been boosted further by the addition of 21 new recruits from Templemore to the division, however Chief Supt Mangan did tell the JPC meeting he has been pressuring his superiors for even more bodies on the ground.
Having lost more than 75 members since 2008, Chief Supt Mangan said: 'There is a need for more that what they're giving me. They have told me I will be getting some [new members] for Bailieborough, but I will be looking for more.'