A TRAINEE accountant with a major bank and members of two of the Republic’s biggest crime gangs were among those arrested after gardaí seized drugs worth up to €3 million in three separate operations in counties Dublin and Roscommon.
Some of those being held are members of major crime gangs who have been involved in entrenched gangland feuding in Clondalkin, west Dublin, Crumlin and Drimnagh, both in the south west of the city.
The biggest of the three seizures involved a haul of cannabis resin valued at over €2 million, found in a van in the Greenogue business park, Rathcoole, Co Dublin.
Gardaí had the area under surveillance as three members of a west Dublin drugs gang were about to transfer the drugs from the van into two cars.
The men had parked at a truckers’ facility in the business park to carry out the handover at 9pm on Monday.
The three men arrested, aged 27, 35 and 36 years, have addresses in Tallaght, Newcastle and Clondalkin, all in west Dublin.
They are members of a major crime gang based primarily in the Clondalkin area that has been supplying drugs across Dublin and into surrounding counties.
The gang has also been involved in a feud in Clondalkin in recent years which has claimed a number of lives, the most recent being the gun murder in August of Pierce Reid (25) in Clondalkin.
Gardaí believe one of the men arrested during the Rathcoole seizure is now the leader of the gang following the imprisonment of its former leader.
The new leader has dabbled in property development in recent years in both the residential and commercial sectors.
One of the men arrested with him in Rathcoole works as a taxi driver.
Following the cannabis seizure, gardaí carried out four searches at residential addresses linked to the men.
They found more than €100,000 in cash, €170,000 worth of cigarettes and assorted stolen property.
The two cars and van at the drug seizure scene have been taken for forensic examination.
The operation involved local units at Ronanstown and Clondalkin Garda stations, the Garda National Drugs Unit and specialist armed Garda units.
The arrested men are being held at Clondalkin Garda station and can be detained for up to seven days without charge.
In an unrelated drug seizure on Monday night gardaí seized 35kgs of cannabis herb with an estimated street value of €420,000 and arrested five men following a surveillance operation.
The Garda operation took place at Airside retail park, Swords, as the drugs were being delivered to a man who gardaí believe is a member of a gang based in Crumlin and Drimnagh.
The group has been involved in a drugs feud with another gang from the same areas that has so far claimed 12 lives.
One of the men arrested in Swords is from Tallaght, another is from Cabra while the three others are from Ballyfermot. One of the suspects is a trainee accountant with one of the Republic’s main banks.
All five arrested are in their 20s. A number of vehicles were taken from the scene by gardaí for forensic examination.
The five men are being held at Garda stations in Santry, Ballymun and Swords.
They can be held for up to seven days without charge.
In another unrelated operation, gardaí in Roscommon seized cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis valued at €80,000.
The haul was found during a search of a house between Boyle and Tulsk at 7am. Some €5,000 cash was also found.
A man and woman from the area were arrested along with a Dublin man.
All are in their early 20s. They are being held at Boyle Garda station.