Two men arrested after Garda unit seizes drugs worth €1m

A GARDA drug unit has delivered a blow to a major trafficking gang after it seized more than e1 million worth of drugs, arrested two men and seized a number of cars.

Armed gardaí carried out a swoop in an underground car park in north Dublin on Monday night following a surveillance operation.

The investigation was conducted by Pearse Street Drugs Unit, located in the south inner city.

It is not the first time the unit has carried out operations in other parts of the city, often involving large seizures and multiple arrests.

At around 8.20pm on Monday, a car was searched in an underground car park in Santry.

A Garda spokesman said they recovered “a large quantity of heroin”, with an estimated street value of e900,000.

Two men, aged 35 and 38, were arrested and taken to Pearse Street Garda Station. They are being detained under Section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act, which allows a detention period of up to seven days.

The spokesman said half a kilo of heroin, worth e100,000, and a small quantity of cocaine were found in a follow-up search. It is understood gardaí seized up to five vehicles in the operation.

Meanwhile, in a separate operation, gardaí in Tallaght, south west Dublin, arrested two men in connection with the fatal shooting of Stephen O’Halloran at Kilmartin Drive, west Tallaght on 19 January last.

The two men, aged 25 and 19, bring to five the number of arrests in relation to the gangland murder of the 20-year-old.

Gardaí are following a definite line of inquiry.

The two men were detained at Tallaght Garda Station under Section 50 Criminal Justice Act 2007.

This legislation has only been used recently by the gardaí and allows for a possible detention period of seven days.

Suspects can be initially held for up to two days on the permission of local senior officers.

They can then be further detained, for three days, and a final two days, following separate applications to the court.