Irish criminals suspects in €25m drug haul

A CROSS-BORDER gang and Irish traffickers based in Europe are suspected of being behind one of the biggest ever drug hauls bound for Ireland.

Belgian police found a colossal array of drugs worth over 25 million euro, including:

Four kilos of heroin, with a final street value of around 6m euro.

591,000 ecstasy tablets and 602,000 liquid ecstasy capsules worth up to 15.5m euro.

104 kilos of amphetamine, worth an estimated 1.2m euro.

200 kilos of cannabis resin, worth 2.3m euro.

The drugs were found in an abandoned truck on the Belgian-French border on Sunday. Police suspect the consignment came from Amsterdam as the truck was parked near the Rotterdam motorway. It was bound for Dublin through Calais or Le Havre.

Belgium has become the main route for drugs destined for the Irish market in recent months because of increased customs checks in Dutch ports, especially since the September 11 attacks.

Belgian police, who had been monitoring a parking lot near the French border, became suspicious when they noticed the doors of a truck ajar.

Drivers reported several thefts from lorries parked near the town of Kortrijk, 30km from the French industrial city of Lille, prompting police to do regular patrols in the area.

When nobody turned up to claim the white truck, police began a search on Sunday. They found the huge stash of carefully wrapped and hidden drugs under the floor covering in the refrigerated area of the vehicle.

Officers believe the driver of the Kildare-registered truck “got spooked” and left the lorry. Gardaí are co-operating with Belgian, Dutch and French police in a major investigation.

They believe the remnants of Paddy Farrell’s gang were behind the operation in conjunction with some or most of the major Irish drug traffickers in Europe.

Farrell, a millionaire based in Newry, Co Armagh, ran a lucrative car sales business as a front for laundering money from a massive drugs operation. He was shot dead in September 1997 by his girlfriend, Lorraine Farrell (no relation), before she turned the gun on herself. Garda sources said that when Farrell was murdered members of the gang spent some time re-organising themselves and were now back up and running.

It is believed the gang pays off loyalist and republican groups in order to be allowed operate its drugs business.

The gang straddles the border, with a presence in Louth, Meath, Monaghan, South Armagh and Fermanagh.

But it has dealing networks throughout the country, where it planned to distribute the drugs. The heroin was bound for Dublin.

Senior gardaí yesterday described the haul as “absolutely huge”.

A source said: “It is very rare that you get such an assortment of drugs. Irish criminals in Europe must of have traded off one type of drugs for another to get such an assortment together.”