DRUGS PACKAGES FOUND ON BEACHES

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A COUNCILLOR has raised his concerns that local waters are being used by drug dealers.

Glyn Hanna decided to speak out in relation to finds along the Ballymartin and Tyrella coastlines, after it emerged last week that £4m of suspected cocaine had been washed up at locations in County Donegal.

Confirmation from the PSNI that local finds of “suspected illegal drugs” were made by the public in May, have increased Councillor Hanna’s concerns that drug gangs are attaching waterproof packages to buoys and other markers, in a bid to evade detection.

“Following the news reports of drugs washing ashore in Donegal I wanted to highlight that this is not just in the north-west, it has happened here too,” he revealed. “I am aware of occasions in recent months where packages of drugs have washed ashore onto public beaches on the County Down coastline. I am extremely worried as these are large amounts of drugs, which destroy lives.”

The DUP representative continued: “I am asking the community to be careful if walking on beaches and they see suspicious parcels washing ashore to contact the police immediately or ring Crimestoppers. The police will treat this in confidence, please do report without fear of this. “It is most important to remove these safely from the public and out of the community,” added Mr Hanna.

When contacted about the matter, a senior officer told this paper that the packages had been discovered close to Tyrella Beach and along the Mourne coastline in early May. “Police received reports that two packages of suspected illegal drugs had been found on beaches in the Tyrella Road and Annalong Road areas on May 8th,” the detective sergeant explained.

“Enquiries are ongoing and we remain dedicated to keeping people safe. I would appeal to anyone who has any knowledge about the sale and distribution of drugs to call us on 101 or through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”

He added: “Any information you can give us is vital in our ongoing fight against criminality.” Air and sea searches were conducted along the coastline of County Donegal following the discovery of the suspected cocaine.

The multi-agency search operation began on Wednesday after a number of packages were found on two local beaches. The packages discovered in County Donegal are believed to contain approximately 60kg of cocaine.

The contents will be analysed by Forensic Science Ireland. The searches involved the air support and water units and concentrated on north Donegal and the Fanad Head coastline. The packages were discovered within a short time of each other.

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