Man questioned in body-in-freezer murder probe

Gardaí in Dublin are continuing to question a man as part of an anti-drug trafficking operation mounted following the discovery of the body of an Irishman in the freezer of a Portuguese holiday apartment.

Two other men and a woman arrested during raids across the capital, in which drugs with a street value of more than €1m were seized, have been released.

The man, in his 30s, who is still being questioned was detained when 12kg of cocaine and several kilograms of a mixing agent, as well as a substantial sum of money, was discovered at a house near Balbriggan, Co Dublin.

He is being held under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, a garda spokesman said.

The other two men, one in his 50s and the other in his 20s, were arrested in Blanchardstown, Dublin. Three more kilos of cocaine, an imitation firearm and two cars were seized.

In another linked raid a 45-year-old woman was arrested in the Ballymun area of Dublin and a firearm recovered.

Gardaí today said the investigation into an international drugs ring – which is said to have connections in London, Portugal and Spain – was ongoing.

The raids in Dublin took place after police in Portugal’s Algarve holiday region discovered an Irishman’s body in the freezer in an apartment in the resort of Albufeira during an investigation into the activities of the drugs gang.

Portuguese police arrested five people on murder charges. Four are Irishmen, three from Cork and one from Coolock in north Dublin, and one is Portuguese. All are aged between 26 and 45.

Police in the Algarve said the murder victim – believed to be a 38-year-old who came from Cork – had been kidnapped in Lagos, a few miles from Albufeira, on Thursday.

The four Irishmen arrested had been living in the Algarve for a few months and were under police investigation for drug trafficking, the Portuguese authorities said.

Investigating officer Carlos do Carmo said they believed the death could have been some kind of score-settling connected to drug trafficking.