Gardaí have made the biggest heroin seizure of the year in an operation that uncovered a drugs processing facility in Dublin.
As well as heroin valued at €2.1 million, smaller quantities of cannabis and cocaine were also found along with equipment for preparing large quantities of drugs for distribution.
A hydraulic press and vacuum packing machine, used in the processing of drugs, was also discovered in a house in Dublin’s south inner city along with communication devices and assorted drug paraphernalia.
Gardai believe the drugs and the processing equipment were owned by a family-based drugs gang operating in Dublin. It has grown in scale since members of the Kinahan cartel’s Irish operation have been jailed or fled abroad as a result of the policing operation into the Kinahan-Hutch feud over the last six years.
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The family-based group is now working as a significant drugs wholesaler for other Irish gangs and has its roots in the heroin trade. Some of its key members were jailed over two decades ago for heroin dealing when they were based in Ronanstown and Ballyfermot. In more recent years a business they were using to conceal the true origins of their wealth was raided and closed by the Criminal Assets Bureau after assets - including a large number of luxury cars - were seized.
Large hauls of drugs and cash - some worth €4 million - have also been seized from the gang in both Ireland and Spain. The group is now one of the biggest Garda targets nationally.
The raids were carried out under Operation Tara on Tuesday by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, assisted by the Special Crime Task Force.
Gardaí stopped a suspect in a vehicle and then carried out a search of a house in the south inner city. Some 15kg of heroin, valued at about €2.1m, was discovered along with 22kg of cannabis herb, valued at €440,000, and cocaine worth approximately €35,000 along with £43,000 in cash.
A man in his 50s has been arrested and was being questioned in Kilmainham Garda station on Wednesday night under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, which allows for his detention for up to seven days without charge.
Det Chief Supt Seamus Boland, head of the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau said: “An Garda Síochána, through the activities of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau is committed to the objectives of Operation Tara, and targeting those drug trafficking networks who cause the most serious harm to our communities. This operation has prevented significant quantities of illicit drugs from being trafficked at street level”.
