Gardaí smash two drug gangs in sting
The six-month covert operation saw plainclothes gardaí infiltrate drug-dealing circles and seize substances including heroin.
Gardaí in recent days arrested 34 males and one female, all aged between 21 and 48.
Gardaí say the operation has dismantled significant drug distributing networks in west Dublin.
Multiple raids were carried out over the last three days after plainclothes officers posing as addicts infiltrated the gangs by buying drugs to identify street-level dealers and middlemen.
It is understood that aside from quantities of heroin, gardaí also seized amounts of crack cocaine and also found amounts of cash during raids on houses, including €4,000 in one residence.
The operation is expected to hit drug-dealing operations, particularly on Dublin city streets where the two gangs were feeding addicts.
While heroin was seized during raids, the focus of the operation was to gather evidence against significant drug dealers in local communities and ensure these people are brought before the courts.
Searches took place across Ballyfermot and Neilstown – close to the scene of the recent gangland double murder of criminal brothers Paul and Kenneth Corbally.
The pair were gunned down on June 28 as they sat with a teenager in their executive-style car on Neilstown Road.
The brothers, aged 32 and 35, and originally from the Ballyfermot area of the city, were under investigation for serious crime in the capital.
It is suspected tensions rose when the brothers and a number of their criminal associates split from a wider drug-dealing and armed robbery gang in west Dublin.
A Garda statement said that drug units at Ronanstown and Ballyfermot Gardaí had been working closely with the Garda National Drug Unit to gather evidence and secure drug supply charges during the half-year, undercover operation.
Gardaí had begun breaking from their cover and arresting suspects on streets and during set-ups since August 10 and suspects would appear in court soon, it was added.
Suspects are set to appear in court on a number of dates in September in Dublin city centre as well as Blanchardstown.
In a separate operation yesterday, the Organised Crime Unit arrested two men in Dublin city centre.
The arrests came after Gardaí raided a cocaine-mixing factory and seized 6kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of more than €500,000 as well a compressor and mixing agents.
