Couple caught with €500k worth of cocaine

A MAJOR “wholesale” drug supplier and his girlfriend have been caught with a massive haul of cocaine after armed gardaí pulled over his top-of-the-range Audi.

The consignment – worth at least €500,000 on the street – led to a follow-up search and the seizure of €100,000 in cash.

Gardaí recovered seven kilos of cocaine and arrested the 39-year-old Limerick man and his 24-year-old partner in Gort, Co Galway, at 9.30am yesterday.

Garda sources described both the seizure and the arrest as “very significant”.

The search followed a planned operation by the Galway Drug Unit, the Garda National Drugs Unit (GNDU) and Revenue’s Customs Service.

Gardaí said the haul had an estimated street value of €500,000. Garda sources said the final value could be double that, given its high purity levels. Revenue upgraded that assessment to €2 million, depending on forensic analysis.

In a follow-up operation gardaí searched a premises, owned by the dealer, in Moycullen, Co Galway, and found €100,000 in cash. A second house in the area was also searched.

The dealer, from the outskirts of Limerick city, is a senior drugs trafficker.

Garda sources described him as an independent “wholesale supplier”.

He left his Limerick home years ago and moved to the west to avoid getting embroiled in the vicious gang feud in Limerick.

His sister died of a drug overdose while in prison and a brother is serving a three-year jail term for dealing.

A Garda spokesman said yesterday’s operation was part of “investigations into organised crime gangs in Galway and Limerick”.

Customs and gardaí set up a surveillance operation at Shannon Airport and monitored a parcel imported from the US.

The couple picked up the parcel and drove off in their Audi T7.

Gardaí monitored the car and moved in at Gort, in south Galway.

Gardaí said the drugs were not concealed, with one source saying the couple “didn’t expect to be ambushed”.

Gardaí suspect the dealer aimed to offload the haul of cocaine as quickly as possible throughout the west and south west.

“It’s a relatively large amount and he would have sold it to whoever wanted it, to take it off his hands quickly,” said a source. “It may not have been all for the west or Galway. He could have been heading straight back down to Limerick after this.”

The operation was led by the Galway Drug Unit, with support from the GNDU.

Gardaí took the couple to Mill Street Garda Station in Galway city. They were detained under Section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act 1996 and can be held for up to seven days.