MORE THAN 200 firearms, many of elite military grade, have now been seized as part of the international drugs and firearms operation that came to light in Ireland earlier this week. The operation has become one of the most successful against gangland gun-running anywhere in Europe in recent years.
The Irish Timeshas learned the Irish criminals involved in the case inadvertently led the Dutch police to the wholesale gang behind the weapons operation. The Irish criminals' communications with their associates in the Netherlands became compromised. That led to vital intelligence on the gun- running emerging in the course of a Garda-PSNI operation against organised crime here.
The intelligence indicated the Irish men were trying to source a large shipment of guns from the Netherlands. The Dutch authorities were then alerted.
The Dutch and Irish criminals were monitored agreeing the deal. The transportation of the weapons to the Republic via Northern Ireland was tracked by customs and the police forces of all three jurisdictions over a four-month period under an investigation codenamed "Operation Bench".
When the weapons reached Belfast on Tuesday, August 27th, they were put into a car destined for Dublin with cannabis herb and heroin valued at €4.2 million.
As the car was driven to Dublin, the authorities in the three jurisdictions moved in and arrested two Irish men - one in Dublin, one in Belfast - and four in the Netherlands. The 27 guns and the drugs were recovered in Dublin, 14 guns in Belfast and 165 in the Netherlands.
The Irish Timeshas learned the Dublin man arrested in Belfast was implicated in a smuggling operation here in recent years.
With other Irish criminals, he attempted to import chemicals to manufacture cocaine valued at hundreds of millions of euro.
A spokesman for the Dutch National Prosecutor's Office said most of the guns found on Tuesday were brand new. "We think they were straight from the factory in Austria where they were manufactured," he said.
Four of the Amsterdam-based gang were in police custody there last night. The four arrested include three Dutch men, aged 41, 42 and 53, and a Brazilian woman aged 27. One of the Dutchmen is believed to own the premises where the weapons were found.
The Dutch only yesterday made public their end of the investigation. They said half of the 165 guns found in the Oud-West area of Amsterdam on Tuesday were wrapped and ready for delivery. However, there is no intelligence or any evidence in the Republic, Northern Ireland or The Netherlands to suggest any of those guns were destined for the Republic.
The Irish gang, led by a man currently serving a jail term here who is an associate of John Gilligan, were just one of many European clients for the Dutch weapons wholesalers. The guns were found in a car and at offices in a factory. Some were hidden in secret compartments in cupboards, safes and concrete pillars.
The haul included more than 70 Glock pistols, among the most frequently used weapons in gangland shootings across Europe. Also found in the haul were five Steyr machine guns. The Steyr is a top-of-the-range military machine gun currently being used by Irish troops in Chad.