‘There’s no hiding place in the sun’

GARDA Commissioner Fachtna Murphy warned Irish drug traffickers “who hide in the sun, in some foreign clime” that they would not escape justice.

Speaking on the back of yesterday’s international operation against Ireland’s biggest drug trafficking gang, Mr Murphy said it was now up to the prosecutors to pursue the evidence gathered by police forces in Spain, Britain and Ireland.

Speaking outside the offices of the Garda National Drugs Unit (GNDU), Mr Murphy said: “There’s no hiding place for people who seek to wreak misery on our young people. Because people go off to the sun or hide in the sun, or hide in some foreign clime and think the borders can help them conceal their ill-gotten gains from trafficking illicit drugs, there is no hiding place and police co-operation is the way to achieve that. This operation is a classic example of co-operation across borders.”

He said the investigation still had “a long way to go” and due process had to take place.

Mr Murphy told drug traffickers that gardaí “will be in their faces” and would “follow their ill-gotten gains, follow illicit money trails and bring them to justice wherever law allows us”.

Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Quilter of the GNDU said the operation was significant: “This is primarily an Irish organised crime group operating on the continent, obviously with far-reaching effect, including on Ireland. We’re very satisfied with the outcome so far.”

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said that “ultimately” gardaí will bring charges as would police forces in other countries. He said the operation would put a “very big dent” in drug smuggling operations.

He added: “The fact is that no border will protect those involved in organised crime.”