Head of 'The Family' drug trafficking gang arrested along with four others 

The arrests are described as hitting the 'leadership structure' of the network known as 'The Family', who have replaced the Kinahan crime cartel as the biggest drug traffickers in the country

The head of Ireland’s biggest drug trafficking gang has been arrested along with four other lieutenants, in a major swoop by elite gardaí.

The five arrests, which include two brothers of the overall leader, are described as hitting the “leadership structure” of the network, known as ‘The Family’.

This outfit, based in the Ballyfermot and Clondalkin areas of west Dublin, has been in operation for almost three decades and has replaced the Kinahan crime cartel as the biggest drug traffickers in the country.

The five arrests, which include two brothers of the overall leader, are described as hitting the “leadership structure” of the network, known as ‘The Family’. Picture: Gardaí

The arrests are understood to be related to linked operations last September in which 100kgs of cocaine was seized in Co Wexford and a search operation carried out in 27 properties targeting ‘The Family’.

The searches were part of an international policing operation — spanning nine countries — targeting an encrypted phone network, known as ‘Ghost’, used by what officers said were “very powerful” crime groups across the globe.

Europol — the EU police agency which coordinated that operation — along with US and Australian police, said the searches brought to an end “a global game of cat and mouse” over the last three years.

It began when French authorities infiltrated the Ghost network and two servers — one in France and one in Iceland. It found that Australia and Ireland were the two countries with the greatest use of the system — with around 400 such devices in Australia and 100 in Ireland.

The Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB) has been targeting ‘The Family’ for many years, efforts that have intensified in the last two years.

This has included a series of major drug seizures belonging to the network as it continues, despite the pressure, to flood Ireland, in particular, with cocaine.

The arrests are understood to be related to linked operations last September in which 100kgs of cocaine was seized in Co Wexford and a search operation carried out in 27 properties targeting ‘The Family’. Picture: Gardaí

Along with the three brothers, gardaí also arrested two other people, who sources said were “significant players” in the organisation.

They are being held under organised crime legislation and can be questioned, on successive applications to the courts, for a maximum of seven days.

A Garda statement issued this afternoon said: “This morning, Monday 24th March 2025, five males were arrested by the GNDOCB as part of an ongoing investigation into the activities of an International Organised Crime Group based in west Dublin.

“The males aged (30s, 40s & 60s) were arrested, in the Dublin and Eastern Garda Regions for alleged offences contrary to the Criminal Justice Act, 2006 and are currently detained, pursuant to the provisions of Section 50 of Criminal Justice Act, 2007, at Garda Stations across the Dublin and Eastern Garda Regions.

“This morning’s Operation led by GNDOCB was supported by the Emergency Response Unit, Regional Armed Support Unit, Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI) and the Dublin Crime Response Team (DCRT).”