Gardaí have most likely saved lives and dealt a significant financial blow to one of the biggest trafficking gangs in Ireland after a major gun and drugs haul.

False insurance claims amounting to over €200,000 in relation to elaborately staged car accidents were admitted yesterday by a Co Cork man.

A lost drug shipment was suspected of sparking the appalling violence that resulted in a hard-working and loving family “losing everything”.

Organised crime detectives have seized more than a quarter of a million euro during an operation targeting drug trafficking.

Bogus insurance claims and staged traffic accidents poison the atmosphere for valid claims as well as tying up gardaí and ambulance services to bolster the frauds, the sentencing judge said yesterday.

A car crash that was deliberately set up for a fraudulent compensation claim did not cause enough damage at first and one car was seen reversing and crashing a second time into another vehicle before gardaí were called to the scene, a court has heard.

A drug project has welcomed a statement from a government TD calling for supervised centres where people can inject drugs.

Gardaí have seized almost €500,000 worth of cannabis herb after a major operation was put into action following suspicious activity by known criminals.

Four men arrested after a drugs seizure on Dublin's Northside will appear in court this morning.

Gardaí have charged 16 people with various counts of deception and making false reports in relation to orchestrated traffic accidents.

High-level meetings are expected to be held this week to draw up blueprints for the establishment of two new ‘super’ Garda units. 

Garda drug units across the country have seen their numbers slashed by 30% in the last four years, figures reveal.

Two new ‘super’ Garda units are being set up — one to target organised gangs and another to tackle child abuse, domestic and sexual violence, and human exploitation.

The Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan has announced major changes to the structure of the force that will change how crimes are investigated.

Two masked men entered a house and took the keys of a Mercedes car last night , which was later crashed in an industrial estate.

A top business figure has been hit in a massive garda operation targeting suspec-ted money laundering.

Two people, including a Garda officer, remain in custody in Co. Sligo in connection with drugs related activities in the north-west.

Gardaí have searched 22 premises across the country over the past two days in a crack-down on organised prostitution.

Gardaí have seized heroin with an estimated value of €750,000 in Co Louth.

Gardaí have arrested three people in a jewellery and cash seizure in County Dublin.

Heroin, tablets and cannabis with a total value of approximately €700,000 have been seized by Co Meath, it has emerged.

Gardaí have arrested three people in two separate drug operations in Dublin and Donegal.

Seizures of ecstasy jumped in 2013, while hauls of cannabis and cocaine fell significantly, official figures show.

Gardaí have arrested six people in a crackdown against organised crime in Waterford.

Gardaí arrested 27 people — and recovered 1,000 stolen beer kegs — as part of a Europe-wide crackdown on the lucrative trade in stolen metal.

Gardaí have said they arrested 27 people for questioning as part of a pan-European operation about metal theft last month.

Gardaí busted a major cocaine factory as part of a nationwide sting involving 419 planned searches and 89 arrests for a range of crimes.

Three men are appear in court this evening after Gardaí recovered a large amount of stolen property following an intelligence led operation in Co. Meath yesterday.

Twice the amount of cannabis plants, cocaine, heroin, and ecstasy was seized last year compared with 2011, Garda figures show

Three men have been arrested in Cork as part of a garda probe into fraudulent insurance claims.

Gardaí in Cork have arrested six people in Cork in connection with a €1m mortgage fraud scam.

Gardaí are to prepare a file for the DPP after last night releasing without charge five people arrested as part of an investigation into fraudulent motor insurance claims.

Gardaí have arrested five people in Co Cork as part of Operation Nascar which centres around fraudulent motor insurance claims.

Six people were arrested in Cork yesterday by gardaí investigating a motor insurance injury claims scam.

Cannabis with an estimated street value of €1.8m has been seized by gardai.

Three men are due before a Kildare court later, after stolen property worth €300,000 was recovered by gardaí in Co Kildare.

A third man is being questioned today in connection with a suspected dissident republican spy operation on Dublin’s Garda headquarters.

Two women have been arrested in connection with a drug seizure in Dublin yesterday.

Gardaí have arrested two men after the seizure of €34,000 worth of cannabis resin in the Naas area.

Gardaí are due to bring separate charges shortly against dissident republicans involved in a spying operation on anti-terrorism officers, and over attempts to kill a crime boss.

Two dissident republicans are being questioned after surveillance equipment was seized in a hotel room overlooking Dublin’s garda headquarters.

Detectives from the Organised Crime Unit have seized drugs in Dublin estimated to be worth €1.4m.

The jailing of almost 60 key figures in Limerick’s notorious gangs, coupled with in-fighting among active gang members, has led to a significant decrease in crime in the city, according to a senior garda.