Major drug trafficking gang hit with blow after cocaine seizure in Wexford

The cocaine seized by gardaí in Wexford on Thursday. Picture: Garda

Ireland’s biggest drug trafficking gang, which was hit in an international operation last month targeting encrypted mobile phones, has been dealt another blow after a 30kg cocaine haul in Wexford.

The seizure was the result of a joint operation by the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau and Revenue, assisted by the Wexford Divisional Drug Unit.

A Lithuanian man was arrested, but the Irish Examiner understands that the haul belongs to the gang known as ‘The Family’, run by a number of brothers based in the Ballyfermot and Clondalkin area of west Dublin.

Gardaí confirmed last month, on the back of the 'Ghost' phone operation, that this outfit had replaced the Kinahan crime cartel as the biggest drug trafficking gang in the country.

The gang, which has been in operation for almost three decades, was once the biggest heroin trafficking network in the country.

While it had links with the Kinahan cartel, when the latter dominated the cocaine and cannabis trade in Ireland, it was considered “independent” by security sources because of the scale of its operations and global contacts.

As a result of the Kinahan-Hutch feud, and the impact on the Kinahan cartel’s ability to operate, ‘The Family’ moved into the cocaine trade and made use of the considerable international contacts it had with European drug networks, Middle Eastern gangs and militant groups as well as Mexican cartels.

Gardaí and Revenue have been raising concerns at the scale of cocaine that is being imported, the bulk through the ports as well as a slice through airports.