Six people who were found with drugs when coaches were stopped and searched on the way to the Oxegen concert at Punchestown last July faced charges for the unlawful possession of quantities of cocaine and cannabis at Castleblayney District Court, Co Monaghan yesterday.
The court was told by a garda inspector that all the cases arose from a Garda operation to counter drug trafficking and drug abuse by searching vehicles on the route to the concert. Several coaches, minibuses and cars were searched by gardaí, assisted by the Cavan/Monaghan Divisional Garda Drugs Unit, on the N2 Dublin-Derry road near Castleblayney, as cross-Border patrons made their way to the concert.
The prosecutions, under the Misuse of Drugs Act and the Drug Trafficking Act, were for unlawful possession of drugs and having drugs for sale or supply.
Judge Flann Brennan applied the Probation Act in five of the cases in which the charges related to the possession of cannabis. In the sixth case, Gavin Treacy (26), Killucan Road, Cookstown, Co Tyrone was charged with possession of cocaine and was remanded on bail to a sitting of the court on October 3rd.