A garda based in a Dublin station has been arrested for suspected drug dealing.

The officer, who is aged in his late thirties, was allegedly caught with €100 worth of cocaine when searched as part of a planned operation on Sunday night.

The garda was arrested following a lengthy surveillance operation by the force’s National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI).

He was arrested in the Dublin 4 area of the city and brought to Terenure Garda Station under Section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

He was released without charge on Monday afternoon and a file on the case will now be prepared for the DPP.

The officer, who is not originally from Dublin, has been suspended from duty as further enquiries are being carried out.

Sources said that they do not believe that the garda is connected to any organised criminal gang but had developed a cocaine habit in recent times and had been supplying some of his associates with the drug.

His phone has been seized and his home was searched by detectives on Sunday.

Online Editors