Gardaí bust drug disposal centre

A VIOLENT drugs gang in Dublin, thought to be behind a gangland assassination last week, was dealt a major blow over the weekend when one of its distribution centres was busted.

Gardai seized 600,000 euro worth of heroin and cocaine and arrested a gang member when they raided an apartment in Clontarf, north Dublin.

“This place was one of their main bagging and distribution centres,” a garda drugs source said.

Gardai arrested one man, in his 30s, in the operation and detained him under section two of the Drug Trafficking Act, which allows a suspect to be held for to up to seven days.

“The person arrested is a very important person in the gang in relation to distribution,” the garda source said.

The gang, based in Crumlin, on the south side, is already facing heat following the murder of Joseph Rattigan, 18, in an inter-gang feud last week.

The gang controls much of the city’s heroin, cocaine and ecstasy trade.

Gardai suspect the gang carried out the murder of Mr Rattigan as part of a bloody feud which has claimed the life of at least one drug dealer.

The North Central Drug Unit seized a kilogram of heroin and nine ounces of rock cocaine in Friday’s haul.

Gardai said rock cocaine was the purest form of the drug and would be generally cut down three times before sold as powder on the street.

Drug officers said that while crack was still rare, it was present.

“We would know certain people dealing in it. It’s very small-scale, but the fear is it could take hold,” a spokesperson said.