Four held after €500k drug find

Gardaí have seized almost €500,000 worth of cannabis herb after a major operation was put into action following suspicious activity by known criminals.

The Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Unit, responding to active patrolling by local drugs units, swooped on two vehicles and seized around 25kg of herb.

It is thought the gangs were in the midst of a handover when members of the Drugs and Organised Crime Unit descended on them. It led to the arrest of four men, including a 58-year-old man who escaped with his life in a gangland attack in 1999.

It is believed the criminals were engaged in a drugs hand-over in the Coolock/Santry area of north Dublin.

It is thought the criminals did not attempt to hide what they were doing.

Gardaí have a policy of active patrolling by local and national drug units in certain locations, both on the north and south of the city. They target criminals who are known to them and regularly stop their cars and conduct searches.

In this instance, local drug units formed the view that certain criminals were acting suspiciously yesterday morning and called in the national unit, which has its own patrols.

It is thought that they gathered the necessary members and quickly responded, resulting in the seizures and arrests.

The four arrested are aged 27, 30, 36, and 58 and are being detained at Ballymun and Coolock Garda Stations.

They are being questioned under Section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act 1996, which allows for a maximum period of seven days’ detention.

It is latest seizure in north Dublin by the new garda gang squad, which amalgamated the Garda National Drugs Unit and the Organised Crime Unit.

The unit made a separate seizure of €150,000 worth of cannabis herb in the Santry area only four days previously.

The 58-year-old arrested in yesterday’s operation was gunned down in the hallway of his home in 1999. He suffered injuries in various parts of this body.

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