A Sligo man has been jailed for 11 years for directing the activities of one of the four organised crime gangs operating in the county.

38 year old Barry Young of Geldof Drive has been described as one of the most significant drug dealers in the West and North West of the country.

He was at the top of a criminal organisation that organised the delivery and supply of cannabis, cocaine and prescription drugs along with associated threats, violence, intimidation and attacks on homes.

According to RTÉ, he also set up a car recovery business to launder cash and access to seven accounts, including a bank account in Madrid, where the drugs money was deposited.

He ran one of the four main drugs gangs in Sligo and directed 20 people operating on a hierarchical structure.

Mr Young was arrested on a plane at Dublin Airport on his way to Spain in January of 2022, and it is understood that he was planning to live there permanently.

Gardaí carried out seven searches the same day and seized his and other gang member’s phones.

The investigation directly linked over €500,000 worth of drugs, €55,000 in cash and at least another €60,000 in various bank and credit union accounts to Young.

He was also connected to drugs seizures in Ballina and Sligo, and an attack on a family home with children in Galway.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt described Young as “a scourge” in the North West.

He sentenced him to 12 years in prison with the final year suspended and told him he would have got 16 years had he contested the case.