Up to €40,000 seized in a drugs raid has 'disappeared' from a Dublin Garda station, the Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy has confirmed.
The commissioner has ordered an investigation into the incident at Fitzgibbon Street garda station in the north inner city.
"We can confirm the disappearance of a sum of money in Fitzgibbon Street and there is an investigation ongoing in relation to that," said a Garda spokeswoman.
The money is believed to have been seized in a drugs raid in 2003 but its disappearance only came to light this week. A Garda superintendent is heading up the investigation into the missing money.
Labour Party justice spokesman Joe Costello said there should be a full review of the Garda procedures for storing items of evidence and cash seized from suspects.
"This is not a bicycle going astray: it is a huge some of money. We do not know if the money was stolen or simply lost, but I think that members of the public will regard is as extraordinary that there are not water-tight procedures for the secure storage of such sums of money," he said.
Fitzgibbon Street, which is located in the shadow of Croke Park, is one of the busiest garda stations in Dublin. It has been the centre for high-profile investigations into murder of people such as Farah Swaleh Noor, the 38-year-old Somalian man whose remains were found in the Royal Canal last year, and most recently the killing of 21-year-old Martin McLoughlin in Jury's Hotel on New Year's Day.
Mr Costello also claimed a firearm, flak jacket and a quantity of drugs had also gone missing from Fitzgibbon Street garda station in August 2003. However, this was not confirmed by gardai.
"I believe that there should be a single designated officer in each Garda Station who would have overall responsibility for the security of items of evidence or cash seizures. This would appear to be the only way to prevent a recurrence of the Fitzgibbon St incident," said Mr Costello.
PA