Gardaí uncover €8.5m of cannabis in major search operation

Officers believe an Irish-Dutch crew were behind the massive importation of the drug

The €8.5m worth of cannabis seized by Garda íin Dublin

Gardaí have uncovered at least 429kg of cannabis herb during a major search operation in south west Dublin.

Officers believe that an Irish-Dutch crew were behind the massive importation of the drug.

The Irish end is centred around a Meath gang that has been operating for over two decades.

It was originally set up by brothers from north Dublin. One of them disappeared in Spain 20 years go.

They connected with traffickers from Netherlands and Eastern Europe in the operation and were keeping the cannabis in a lock up in the Ballymount area.

Two vehicles were intercepted in the region of the Dublin suburb.

In the course of the operation 429 kilos of cannabis with a street value of €8.5m was seized.

Four males aged 31, 45, 52 and 58 were arrested for offences of facilitating and enhancing a criminal organisation to commit drug trafficking offences.

All four are detained at Garda stations in the Dublin Region.

They include Irish people and nationals from the Netherlands and Eastern Europe.

The search operation was going on during much of Friday and was led by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB), assisted by Revenue Customs and the local garda divisional drugs units.

Following the operation, the head of Organised and Serious Crime, Assistant Commissioner Justin Kelly said: "This operation is another example of our commitment to target the enablers and facilitators of global drug trafficking networks and our ongoing efforts to make Ireland a difficult environment for them to operate in.” This seizure forms part of Operation Tara, an enhanced national anti-drugs strategy launched by garda commissioner Drew Harris in July 2021.

The seizure happened on the same day that 36kgs of cocaine was seized by Revenue officers in Rosslare Harbour – the second major cocaine haul there in two days.

On Thursday, 30kgs of cocaine was intercepted in the joint operation with DOCB and local officers.

Those two seizures are being linked to the same gang, known as ‘The Family’, described by gardaí as Ireland's biggest drug trafficking network.