Gardaí who dismantled a big cocaine distribution network in Co Laois this week found a fleet of vehicles with hidden compartments that were being used to supply drugs to the West Dublin area.
The cars were found along with 182kg of pure cocaine and 4kg of cannabis in a commercial premises in Mountmellick. The total value of the seized drugs was estimated at €14 million.
The narcotics had only just arrived in the State and several men were cutting it with bulking agents when the Garda raid happened.
The eight modified vehicles were discovered on the premises and were to be used to distribute the cocaine to dealers once it was ready, gardaí believe.
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The operation was carried out by the Dublin Crime Response Team (DCRT) whose members are specially trained to spot secret compartments in vehicles.
During a follow-up search at a garage premises in West Dublin on Tuesday, gardaí found about 17kg of cocaine hidden, along with €25,000 worth of cash.
Gardaí described the Mountmellick operation as factory-like and highly sophisticated. Sources believe the operation effectively dismantled the main supply route of cocaine and crack cocaine into West Dublin.
Three men, believed to be from Poland, were arrested at the Mountmellick premises. Gardaí believe they were working for a criminal gang run by two Irish brothers who have a long history of criminality. The brothers have long been the target of the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) and the DCRT.
Cab previously told the High Court the brothers played a leading role in sourcing and supplying drugs in areas of Dublin.
Last year, the DCRT led an operation targeting the brothers’ gang that resulted in the seizure of €9.6 million worth of cocaine, cannabis, ketamine, LSD and MDMA [ecstasy] and €1.1 million in cash and luxury goods at a property in the Ward area of Co Dublin.
Gardaí believe the gang was just beginning to recover from this seizure when this week’s raid was carried out.
“This intelligence-led operation conducted by the DCRT has taken down the main supply network for cocaine and crack cocaine into West Dublin,” said Assistant Commissioner Paul Cleary of the Dublin Metropolitan Region.
“This operation targeting the sourcing, preparation and distribution of substantial quantities of these illicit drugs, stopped them from entering our communities and is another significant blow to an organised criminal group.”
The three men arrested on Tuesday remain in custody under section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996, at Garda stations in the eastern region.
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