Twenty-seven people have been arrested and are expected to appear in court this week on drugs-related charges, as part of the Garda's "Operation Clean Streets".
Further arrests are expected following the identification of almost 100 people believed to be heroin dealers from a number of networks in the Dublin area. The arrests began at 7 a.m. yesterday as gardaí searched homes, other accommodation and "places they were known to be at that time" across Dublin city.
The gardaí also seized heroin worth €25,000 in follow-up searches after two of the arrests.
Those detained ranged in age from 17 to 42, and were primarily male, although several women were also arrested.
"Clean Streets 6" as it is known, is the sixth such operation co-ordinated by the Garda National Drug Unit, the first of which began in 1997. Since then more than 600 people have been charged with drugs-related offences under the operation.
"The point of focus has been to target on-street distribution and primarily heroin," according to Supt Barry O'Brien of the Garda National Drug Unit.
Clean Streets 6 began three months ago. Undercover gardaí identified 96 people by gathering evidence on the street, including the sale of heroin to undercover officers, and the arrests began yesterday. Gardaí have evidence of drug-dealing on all 96 suspects.
The dealers were selling an average of €25 to €50 in heroin to individual users in units of a ¼ gramme or "¼ Q", each valued at €25. Usage depends on "consumption patterns or tolerance for heroin".
Those arrested are believed to be from a number of drugs networks across the city and include some addicts.
It remained unclear the level of sales each dealer made because of the level of precautions they take in dealing but, in one of the arrests, heroin with the equivalent street value of €15,000 was seized in a follow-up search, while heroin valued at €10,000 was found during a second arrest.
A number of the 27 were arrested and questioned under the Criminal Justice Act, while several have already been charged under Section 15 of the Drug Trafficking Act, with possession of heroin with intent for sale and distribution. All are expected to appear in Dublin District Court at Tallaght, the Bridewell, and Kilmainham, over the next few days, on charges related to the Drug Trafficking Act.
The operation was part of the Garda's "obligation to enforce the law" and part of the Garda Commissioner's corporate strategy and the Garda drugs policy, one of whose basic tenets is "the rigorous enforcement of all drug legislation as a means of reducing the supply of drugs within society".
Supt O'Brien said: Clean Streets 6 could be seen as a successful operation but was part of ongoing efforts to cut supply. It was linked with the efforts of the National Drugs Strategy Task Force, which aims to cut demand.
Asked if demand levels were increasing, Supt O'Brien said it was difficult to be definitive but they were "constant".
