€2.4m heroin haul the biggest in four years

THE seizure of 12.5kg of heroin — the biggest haul of the drug in four years — will have an impact on the streets, drug groups said yesterday.

Gardaí said the consignment, with an estimated street value of €2.4 million, was uncovered as a result of “ongoing investigations into organised crime in Dublin” by the Garda National Drugs Unit (GNDU).

The seizure will have serious repercussions for a number of Dublin gangs, who are suspected to have pooled their resources to fund the massive shipment.

Gardaí estimate that they would have paid international suppliers up to €800,000 for the consignment.

Detectives suspect a gang from west Dublin, active in the Ballyfermot and Blanchardstown areas, may have organised shipment for the group.

Officers from the GNDU swooped on four vehicles in Kill, Co Kildare, on Tuesday afternoon and found the drugs in a bag at the back of a van. Four people, three in their 20s, and a man aged 51, were arrested.

Two of the four people arrested, aged 26 and 27, were released without charge. The remaining two are due to appear in the courts this morning.

It is thought to be the largest haul of heroin since the seizure of 20kg of the drug in September 2008.

Gardaí have seized 33kg of heroin so far this year, more than for the whole of 2010. Last year’s haul of 30kg was a low in recent years, which followed seizures of 82kg in 2009 and 213kg in 2008.

“This is a significant seizure,” said Tony Geoghegan of Merchants Quay Ireland, the country’s largest voluntary drugs agency.

“We have become a bit numbed over the years to the size of seizures, mainly because of the huge hauls of cocaine, but 12-13 kilos of heroin is not insignificant. That is a serious amount of the drug and there will be an impact on the street in terms of the harm to individuals, families and communities.”

He said the size of the seizure showed there was a demand for heroin despite the economic downturn.

“There’s a public perception that people will stop taking drugs, but only recreational drug users might stop. Habitual, chronic users won’t and there continues to be a demand for heroin.”

He said that demand had been stable in Dublin in recent years and said Merchants Quay received 500 new clients at their needle exchange service last year and an overall number of 5,000, similar to previous years.

“The demand is greater outside Dublin, that’s where the rise is in new treatment is and also the bigger waiting lists.”

A garda source said: “It’s particularly good to get that amount. It will create a bit of a drought and hopefully steer people towards treatment.”