On Tuesday gardaí seized cocaine valued at more than €10 million when they stopped a truck on the M9 in Co Kilkenny.
Intelligence led to the truck being stopped and finding no drugs in their initial search of the vehicle, they took it to be scanned, soon finding a hidden compartment packed with 152kg of drugs.
As well as seizing the truck, they searched two business premises and a residential address in Co Waterford.
A man in his 60s was arrested and taken in for questioning. He has been a target of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB) for some time.
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Gardaí believe the suspect has links to the Dublin-based gang that is sometimes referred to in media reports as “The Family”. It has surpassed the Kinahan cartel’s Irish operation as the biggest drugs network in the Republic.
Drugs with a street value of over €10m is regarded as a major seizure, but what impact will it have on the drugs trade in Ireland? Is The Family using the Kinehan playbook in its importation and distribution operation? And will losing such a valuable consignment damage the crime group?
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.