Two youths have been arrested after a well-tuned garda walking his dog came across a stash of drugs in a south Dublin Park.
Gardai in Ballyfermot played out a sneaky operation after being alerted to the stash in Waterstown Park in Palmerstown, and quickly put a plan of action together.
After being shown where the package was, they waited off until two people came along and picked it up.
They then observed it being put in a bag and pounced.
Two youths were arrested and have since been released. A file is being prepared for a Garda Juvenile Officer working with one of the teens.
A Garda spokesman told Dublin Live: "Two juveniles arrested for possession of drugs in Waterstown Park have been released.
"A file is being prepared for the JLO for one of the juveniles arrested."
The incident comes as kids as young as 13 are becoming addicted to drugs, an addiction expert said.
Michael Guerin, a counsellor at Cuan Mhuire in Bruree in Limerick, told Dublin Live that their waiting list has quadrupled in just two years.
The addiction counsellor said: "We’ve gone from 75 waiting last year to 250 on waiting lists.
“There’s men and women, but it’s mostly young men.”
And worryingly, he said that some are taking drugs from just 13 years of age, moving on from alcohol and cannabis use.
He added: “Cocaine use has become normalised, just like alcohol has.
“Taking a line of cocaine has become a rite of passage, and many are even factoring the price of cocaine into their debs do.
“And they can’t afford these drugs, so many teenagers are selling them as well as taking them.”
Mr Guerin said that our attitude to drugs needs to change, and more needs to be done to teach kids of the dangers of drugs.
