GARDAI have arrested six men who they believe were trying to replace the drug trafficking operation which was broken up over the past nine months by detectives investigating the murder of the journalist Veronica Guerin.
The men were arrested in north inner Dublin, Finglas and Kimmage on Sunday night and yesterday morning. Some £32,000 in cash was recovered from a house in the Summerhill area.
The man believed to have been leading the attempt to reestablish the drug supply network broken up by the gardai is from Co Down and is believed to have connections with both republican and loyalist drugdealers in Northern Ireland.
The Co Down man was arrested on Sunday night at an apartment block in Kimmage in the company of a young woman. Traces of drugs were found in the flat, according to Garda sources. He was detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and is being held in Lucan along with five other men arrested in a series of raids yesterday morning.
The Co Down man was once a close associate of the Dublin criminal who it is believed may have ordered the murder of Ms Guerin. This criminal, along with three other prime suspects in the murder, left Dublin last summer. He was arrested late last year and is currently in custody abroad on charges related to drugs.
Before the drugs gang was broken up, the Co Down man was believed to have been responsible for transporting large amounts of cannabis and ecstasy from Dublin to Belfast. He had connections with both loyalists and republicans involved in selling the drugs within Northern Ireland.
Since the main Dublin gang was broken up by gardai at least two unsuccessful attempts have been made to reestablish it. The last such attempt, by the Finglas criminal, P.J. Judge, ended when he was shot dead shortly before Christmas as part of a fetid with other criminals.
Since the start of this year there have been indications that the Co Down man was making inroads into the Dublin drugs trade. He had been followed on a number of occasions as he drove around the city in one of a number of expensive cars he owns. A Northern registered BMW car was seized outside the apartment block where he was arrested on Sunday.
The drugs network is believed to have had potential earnings of up to £1 million a week from cannabis, with spin off earnings from other drugs and smuggled tobacco.
Millions of pounds worth of property and cash, as well as firearms and drugs, have been seized since the Garda investigation into the murder of Ms Guerin began.