Drugs gangs smashed in police crackdown

Two drugs gangs were smashed and 80 suspected pushers arrested during a blitz on street level dealing in Dublin, gardaí confirmed today.

The 72 men and eight women were detained over the past 48 hours by drugs squad officers who swooped on more than 100 premises across the capital.

Gardaí said the intelligence-led operation has been ongoing for the past five months and dismantled two significant drug distribution networks operating in the city centre.

Undercover officers posing as users have been buying cocaine and heroin from pushers who deal openly in full view of tourists, shoppers and workers.

The crackdown targeted drug dealers and buyers on the River Liffey Boardwalk, outside Dublin City Council’s head office on Wood Quay and near the Custom House.

Senior gardaí are optimistic the swoop will lead them further up the supply chain to one major criminal in the north inner city and another in the south inner city.

The arrests and raids, carried out under Operation Feeder, follow on from Operation Clean Street and Marigold, which over the last number of years targeted those supplying serious controlled drugs in the capital.

Some of the accused have already appeared before Dublin District Court and have been bailed or remanded in custody.

Garda Commissioner Mr Fachtna Murphy said the force is committed to tackling the supply of drugs at all levels.

“The Garda National Drugs Unit working with local Garda drug units will ensure a co-ordinated and effective approach to protecting our communities, individuals and their families from the harm, pain and destruction caused by illicit drug use,” he added.

“We will continue to work with other agencies and communities in tackling the drug problem in this country.”

Operation Feeder included officers from the Garda National Drugs Unit, Pearse Street, Kilmainham and Store Street Garda Stations and district drug units throughout the Dublin Metropolitan Region.

Sinn Féin justice spokesman Aengus Ó Snódaigh praised the operation and said the arrests were a result of solid, intelligence-led policing.

“Hopefully these arrests will now lead to the seizure of larger quantities of drugs, weapons, proceeds of crime and ultimately to convictions,” the south inner city TD said.

“This is exactly the type of solid, intelligence-based police work that is needed to tackle drugs and serious crime.”