Gardaí surprised by scale of discovery following €3.2m cocaine seizure

The drugs seized in Sunday's operation. Picture: Garda Info/Twitter

Update 23/08/22: The man in his 30s, arrested in relation to the seizure of €3.2 million worth of suspected cocaine, in Clondalkin on Sunday August 21, has been charged.

He is due to appear before the Criminal Courts of Justice (Court 2) at 4.30pm this afternoon, August 23.

Local garda units in west Dublin have hit one of the country’s biggest drug gangs with the seizure of over 45kgs of cocaine.

Gardaí in Clondalkin were surprised by the scale of the discovery when they searched a house in the area under warrant.

Officers suspect that two brothers, who head a massive and a long-running drug trafficking operation, owned the consignment.

The cocaine, with an estimated street value of around €3.2m, was broken up into 40 blocks and ready for onward sale to local gangs.

As well as major suppliers in Dublin, the brothers, known as 'The Family', distribute huge quantities of drugs into the Midlands and the south of the country.

While they dominate much of the heroin trade, they are also major players in the cocaine market, which gardaí say is the biggest earner for drug gangs.

A Garda statement said the search operation, executed on Sunday evening, was conducted by the Ronanstown District Drugs Unit and the Detective Unit.

It is understood that detectives conducted inquiries and identified a house and a person, otherwise thought to have been “clean” and unlikely to attract attention.

It is thought that they expected to find a much smaller amount of drugs and were surprised at the 40 blocks in the home.

They also found drug paraphernalia and some €21,500 in cash.

The Garda statement said: “During the course of the search, Gardaí located and seized over 40 blocks of suspected cocaine. The estimated street value of the seized drugs is approximately €3.2 million, pending analysis. Gardaí also seized drug paraphernalia and cash to the value of €21,500 during the course of the search.

“One male, aged in his late 30s, was arrested and taken to Lucan Garda Station where he is currently detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996.” 

The seizure was conducted under Operation Tara, set up to combat local drug dealing.

It is understood that extra gardaí are to join Ronanstown Drug Unit in the coming weeks.

In a separate operation, Revenue seized around 120 bottles of what they suspect is cannabis oil along with some 13kgs of herbal cannabis, during an examination of post in Athlone mail sorting centre.

Revenue said that until official tests were conducted they could not confirm the contents of the bottle, but suspected it was cannabis (THC) oil.

The drugs, also with a small amount of ecstasy, are estimated to have a combined value of more than €276,000.

“They were discovered concealed in parcels that originated in multiple locations across mainland Europe and were destined for addresses across the country,” a Revenue statement said.

The parcels originated in Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands.

They were destined for addresses in Dublin, Roscommon, Waterford, Westmeath and Wicklow.