Six arrested, cars, watches and €700k in cash seized in Dublin raids

€200k alone was uncovered during a stop and search of a Northern Ireland-registered car on the N3

Watches seized during Wednesday's raids. Picture: Garda Info

Six people have been arrested and eight vehicles, 16 watches and €700,000 in cash have been seized in Garda search operations in West Dublin.

The raids were carried out as part of Operation Tara, an ongoing initiative aimed at tackling the capacity of organised crimes groups (OGCs) to negatively impact communities around the country through the sale of controlled drugs and associated intimidation of vulnerable people.

As part of the multi-divisional operation, officers attached to the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB), the Special Crime Task Force, the Special Tactics and Operations Command, the Air Support Unit, the Dog Unit, the Stolen Motor Vehicle Investigation Unit and the Criminal Assets Bureau, along with personnel assigned to local Garda Síochána drug units based in West Dublin, searched 24 premises in West Dublin, Ballyfermot, Clondalkin, Lucan, Crumlin and Dublin city centre on Wednesday.

The majority of the locations targeted were residences, though a number of business premises were also searched.

Numerous quantities of cash were seized in the searches, amounting to about €700,000 overall.

€200,000 alone was uncovered during a stop and search of a Northern Ireland-registered car on the N3.

Over the course of the other raids, 16 high-value watches and eight vehicles were also seized, along with media devices, including mobile telephones and documentation purporting to relate to particular business-related activity.

Cash recovered over the course of the searches. Garda Info

Five men aged in their 30s and 40s and one woman, aged 33, have been arrested in connection with the seizures.

The arrests relate to suspected participation in the activities of a criminal organisation, and the facilitating of money laundering and drug trafficking, representing an alleged breach of the provisions of section 72 of Criminal Justice Act 2006.

All suspects are currently detained pursuant to the provisions of section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2007, at various Garda stations around Dublin

Speaking on Thursday afternoon, Assistant Garda Commissioner John O’Driscoll said  organised crime groups threatening the life and welfare of those living in communities throughout Ireland would "experience the determination of An Garda Síochána to ensure they are prosecuted and their organisations dismantled",

Head of the GNDOCB, Detective Chief Superintendent Seamus Boland commended the officers who carried out the raids. 

"This operation, led by the GNDOCB, assisted by a significant number of other Garda Síochána personnel, including a number assigned to local drug units located in West Dublin, was designed to make a significant impact on those involved in OCGs, who are causing significant damage to communities in West Dublin and elsewhere," he said.