Republicans held in anti-drug raids
Gardaí seized E500,000 of cocaine in a rented house near Timoleague, West Cork, following a tip-off from PSNI detectives who had earlier raided a cocaine mixing factory in Co Tyrone. There they discovered drugs with an estimated street value of more than E600,000.
The house at Grangemore, near Timoleague was raided by members of the Garda National Drugs Unit late on Tuesday night. It had been rented 15 months ago by the ex-INLA man, who is in his late 50s. He had been arrested earlier in the Dungannon area of Tyrone along with two other men, one of whom was described as a drugs boss. The man’s neighbour, Roland Paschhoff, said he had spoken to the him only twice. “He liked to keep to himself. We had a short chat when he first arrived and he said that he liked his privacy,” the German said.
“This was an ongoing cross-border operation targeting major criminals ...
including one individual who is the focus of everyone’s attention,” said a senior garda source, adding the PSNI’s success in catching the top man was a major coup.
The head of the PSNI drugs squad chief, Detective Superintendent Hayden Bell, said paramilitary links were being investigated and cooperation between the PSNI and gardaí had been excellent.
