Illegal drugs worth €40m found last year

The value of major drugs finds in the State last year came to over €40 million, with a record €25.6 million worth of heroin discovered.

The figures, based on major drugs finds around the country reported by the Garda, show the value of heroin seized last year was almost four times that in 2005, when the total was €6.4 million.

Heroin also accounted for the three most valuable drugs hauls reported last year.

The most valuable find, worth €11 million, was recovered in October in an apartment at Ard na Cluaine, Nangor Road, Clondalkin, south Dublin. It weighed 54kgs and was the largest haul ever made in the State.

Along with drugs, gardaí also recovered a Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine-gun with a silencer, a weapon used by police in Northern Ireland and Britain.

There were also thousands of rounds of ammunition for various weapons and magazines for Glock machine pistols.

Some 30kgs of heroin worth €8 million was recovered following searches in north Dublin in June.

In December 17kgs of heroin worth €4 million was found in a car stopped by gardaí at Rathcoole, Co Dublin.

Among other large finds were 80 packs of herbal cannabis, worth up to €4 million, discovered as part of the Clondalkin raid in October.

Some €3 million worth of cocaine was found at a mixing plant in Co Meath in November.

The current value of cocaine, based on Garda estimates, is €70,000 per kilogramme. Heroin is worth an estimated €200,000 per kilogram, while cannabis resin is €7,000 and herbal cannabis is €2,000.

Some 30 major drugs finds were reported by gardaí last year, almost half of which were cocaine seizures.

It is accepted internationally that the authorities in any country seize around 10 per cent of illicit drugs.

In the first major drugs find of 2007, gardaí seized €1.1 million worth of cannabis in the Dún Laoghaire area of south Dublin.

The 165kg of cannabis resin was recovered during a search of an open area near Parc na Silla, Loughlinstown. One man was arrested at the scene.

Following a search of a nearby house, two men and a woman were arrested and a small amount of cocaine seized.

The find, late on Friday night, came following the beginning of a major new push against drug gangs around the country.

Armed patrols by leading units, including the Emergency Response Unit (ERU), were increased around prominent Dublin gangland figures, and an additional 20 gardaí were sent to the Organised Crime Unit.

Additional resources have been made available to the Special Detective Unit and ERU.

This will enable them to increase armed patrols and checkpoints in flashpoint suburbs around Dublin, including Finglas and the north inner city, where recent shootings have taken place. Other areas targeted include Drimnagh, Crumlin, Coolock, Blanchardstown and Mulhuddart.

DRUG FINDS: top five seizures

€11 million -54kg of heroin was seized in an apartment at Ard na Cluaine, Nangor Road, Clondalkin, south Dublin in October.

The find also included a sub-machine gun and ammunition.

€8 million -30kg of heroin was recovered following searches in Swords, Co Dublin, in June. The haul included five Glock semi-automatic pistols.

€4 million -17kg of heroin was recovered when gardaí stopped a car near Rathcoole, Co Dublin, in December.

€4 million -80 shrink-wrapped packs of herbal cannabis were recovered as part of the drug raid in Clondalkin, Co Dublin, in October.

€3 million -36kg of cocaine were found at an apartment in the Simmonstown Manor estate, Celbridge, Co Meath, in November. The drug was being mixed with a glucose bulking agent and packed into deal-sized packs.