Callinan: 25 organised crime gangs in country

There are 25 organised crime gangs operating in Ireland, including five with significant international links, new Garda figures show.

Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan said Irish gangs were joining forces with Russian outfits in the supply of drugs and cigarettes while Eastern European networks were involved in supplying firearms as well as narcotics.

Speaking at the Oireachtas Justice Committee, he said more drugs were seized in the first nine months of this year (over €90m), compared to the whole of last year (€89m).

And with around €9m worth of cannabis seized since September from grow houses, including €3.5m worth this week, some €100m worth of drugs have been seized to date.

Releasing new figures, the commissioner said there were about 25 organised crime groups (OCGs) in the country and said the “hotbeds” for these outfits were in Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Galway and Sligo.

He said while the “strategists and tacticians” of the gangs were based in the urban centres, their “tentacles” spread to every county through a network of associates and relatives.

He told the committee gangs regularly pursued joint enterprises, such as drug importations.

The garda chief said the OCGs were structured hierarchically and typically consisted of a leadership, middle managers and low-level criminals. He said there were typically between six and 12 people in the inner core of these gangs.

Mr Callinan said the OCGs often worked with criminals in Northern Ireland in the trafficking of drugs, counterfeit cigarettes and fuel laundering. He said there were links between criminals and dissident republicans in the Republic.

He said there was a relationship of both “friction and facilitation” between the two and subversives have taxed/extorted dealers here.

Mr Callinan said there were five OCGs with “significant international cross-border connections”, with strong relationships in Holland, Spain and Britain.

He said associations with Russian gangs had been observed on drug and cigarette ventures. He said he was “concerned” at associations with Eastern European gangs in the movement of drugs and firearms.

He said drug seizures had increased this year and that the use of cocaine and heroin did not appear to have diminished overall.

The commissioner added: “Illicit drug trafficking is so lucrative it will remain with us. No one is naive enough to say it will go away.”

Mr Callinan said figures, previously reported in the Irish Examiner, show that 10,000 searches on people had been conducted this year in Dublin city centre.

He said 250,000 tablets had been seized and these were mainly bought online.