Feuding drugs gang hit by €700,000 ecstasy haul

GARDAÍ dealt a major blow yesterday to a drugs gang involved in a vicious feud that has resulted in at least two murders and several attempted murders.

Officers attached to the Garda National Drugs Unit arrested a young man and seized 50,000 ecstasy tablets with an estimated street value of €700,000.

The 23-year-old was caught walking along Walkinstown roundabout in south west Dublin with a bag containing the drugs at around 3.30pm. He was brought to Sundrive Garda Station in Crumlin and held under the Drug Trafficking Act, which allows a maximum detention period of seven days.

“This is a major blow for the gang in terms of loss of earnings and the money spent to purchase the drugs,” said a garda source.

The operation was led by Detective Superintendent Noreen O’Sullivan of the GNDU.

The arrest followed a surveillance operation in Dublin Port, where the drugs had been brought in. The youth was a courier for one of two feuding gangs in the Dublin 12 area. He is thought to have been carrying out his first major run for the outfit.

Gardaí were last night carrying out three additional searches in the area and further arrests were hoped.

The seizure will be a blow to the gang, which is engaged in a deadly turf war with a rival outfit in the area.

Last July, Joseph Rattigan, 18, a leader of one of the gangs, was shot dead near his home on Cooley Road in Drimnagh by the rival gang.

The murder was in retaliation for the murder of Declan Gavin, 20, from Drimnagh, in August 2001.

Numerous members in both gangs have also been victims of murder attempts and shootings.

At least four other drug dealers have been killed in the area since July 2001 but they are not thought to have been involved in this particular feud.

Gardaí have noticed a major drop in the supply of ecstasy and cannabis in Dublin and the rest of the country recently and say this latest seizure will add to the drought.

Meanwhile, in a separate operation, four million cigarettes were seized by Customs officers in a smuggling operation at Dublin Port.

The Boston brand cigarettes arrived in a container from Gambia, in west Africa, via Antwerp and were due to be transported by truck to Northern Ireland for British market.

The cigarettes are low grade and are valued at €250,000.

Customs, who had set up a surveillance operation, are satisfied they have identified the people behind the operation and have passed the information on to British Customs.