THE CHILD OF a senior member of a Limerick crime gang tried to swap half-an-ounce of heroin in exchange for a horse, it has been revealed.

The drugs were found when the nine-year-old was stopped and searched by a community garda last month in the Ballinacurra-Weston area of the city. The bag of heroin was worth an estimated €1,500, reports the Sunday World.

It is believed that the child, who had made his Holy Communion shortly before being caught with the drugs, has now been sent abroad to live with relatives.

Last week, the gardaí announced plan to begin 24-hour patrols in areas frequented by the McCarthy-Dundon family.

Read Niall Donald’s report in the print edition of the Sunday World>