Drug supplier feels heat as henchmen interrogated

A MAJOR drug supplier was feeling the heat yesterday as two of his henchmen continued to be questioned on suspicion of laundering the gang’s cash.

The feared criminal runs a large trafficking network supplying huge quantities of drugs into north County Dublin and Co Louth.

This network has been the subject of an ongoing and intensive investigation by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB), which has identified the gang as earning substantial amounts of money from drug-trafficking.

The CAB has so far raided in the region of 30 properties across Dublin, Meath and Cavan linked to gang members and professional associates, including the offices of solicitors and accountants.

On Wednesday, in the latest series of raids, officers from the CAB searched five residential properties and the offices of four professional firms in Cavan, Meath and Dublin.

Two men were arrested on suspicion of having committed offences contrary to Section 31 of the Criminal Justice Act 1994, concerning money-laundering the proceeds of drug trafficking.

The two men were brought to Kevin Street and Crumlin Garda stations and detained under the provisions of Section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act, which allows for a maximum possible detention period of seven days.

The gang boss is not thought to be one of those arrested.

Just over a fortnight ago, the CAB uncovered a large cannabis plant factory in Meath as part of its investigations into the Dublin gang. Chinese and Vietnamese criminals are believed to have operated this plant and gardaí are investigating the links between Asian crime gangs and the Dublin network.

The Dublin gang is headed by a man, aged in his late-30s, who is originally from the Coolock-Edenmore area of north Dublin. He was well-known as an armed robber before moving into the drugs business on a large scale. He moved to a remote area of Co Cavan a number of years ago.

“He is very active and has been into serious crime since the 1990s, including armed robbery,” said a Garda source. “He is big time into the supply of drugs and would be heavily involved in supplying the north Dublin and Drogheda areas.”

He has built up a name as a hard man. “To some people he is a feared player, a tough guy. He has a reputation for scaring people,” said the garda.