Part of €13m cannabis haul destined for gang

GARDAÍ confirmed yesterday that part of the €13 million cannabis haul seized in Dublin was destined for a Limerick gang.

The gang is linked to the feud which led to the murder of crime boss Kieran Keane on January 29. The articulated truck carrying the haul is believed to be owned by a man linked to one of the feuding families.

Members of the Garda National Drugs Unit seized a large quantity of cannabis resin and herb when they stopped the truck at John’s Road West in Dublin’s south inner city at 7.20am on Thursday. And in Limerick, members of the Garda Drugs Squad seized €40,000 worth of drugs in the city.

A 42-year-old driver from Co Tipperary and with an address in south Dublin, was being questioned and detained under the Drug Trafficking Act 1996 at Kilmainham Garda Station in connection with the Dublin drugs haul.

Meanwhile, gardaí in Limerick arrested three men on Thursday following a series of swoops on premises in the inner city by members of the drugs squad and armed detectives. Quantities of cannabis resin, ecstasy and cocaine with an estimated street value of 40,000 were seized.

One man in his 20s has been released without charge after questioning and a file is being prepared for the DPP. Two other men in their 20s and 30s were yesterday detained under the Drug Trafficking Act.

This latest seizure brings the amount of drugs seized in Limerick in the past two years to over €4.5 million.