FOUR men remained in Garda custody in Limerick this Wednesday morning after GardaĆ discovered guns, a viable pipe bomb, drugs, and cash in an operation targeting the activities of organised crime in the Treaty City on Tuesday evening.
It follows Garda investigations into several shootings and a pipe bomb explosion earlier this year involving rival groups involved in a feud on the cityās south side.
A Garda spokesman said that a planned Garda operation on Tuesday involving officers āattached to Limerick Crime Functional Areaā supported by members of the Defence Forces ātargeting organised criminal activity in County Limerickā led to āa number of searches conducted at locations in Limerick, Cork, and Clareā.
āDuring the course of these searches, cash in excess of ā¬11,310 was seized as well as approximately ā¬53,100 suspected cocaine, ā¬20,000 suspected cannabis, and ā¬4,650 suspected alprazolam and controlled medication tablets.
āFour suspected firearms and ammunition have also been seized.
āAll evidence seized will be sent to Forensic Science Ireland for further examination.ā
The Garda spokesman added: āDuring the search of a field in the Limerick area, the assistance of the Army EOD Unit was requested to make safe a suspicious device.ā
āA controlled explosion was carried out and, on examination, this device was found to have been a viable explosive.ā
āFive men were arrested during the course of this operation for offences under provisions of the Criminal Law Act, 1997, and detained under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2007 at Garda Stations in the Limerick Region.ā
Four of the men remain in custody while the fifth male was āreleased from detention and charged with separate road traffic offencesā.
This man was due to appear before Limerick District Court this morning.
GardaĆ said that three women were also arrested and charged on Tuesday āfor offences contrary to the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994ā.