Gardaí have arrested a man who they believe was the key figure behind a major multi-million euro cocaine distribution business in Dublin.
The man, a 46-year-old English national, was arrested at a house in Terenure just before 8 p.m. on Thursday when officers from the Garda National Drugs Unit raided the premises.
Gardaí recovered around €50,000 worth of cocaine and a compressor and vacuum packer machine, both of which are used to parcel cocaine into the smallest possible form. A large quantity of glucose-based mixing agent, which is mixed with cocaine to increase its street value, was also seized at the premises.
The man at the centre of the latest seizure was in custody in Pearse Street Garda station last night. He was being detained under Section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act. He can be held for up to seven days.
Garda sources said they believed the man had been in Ireland for around 12 months. He fled England last year after police there seized a large quantity of cannabis and cash when they smashed a drugs operation in the midlands.
The man's parents are Irish and he has extensive links with criminal elements in Dublin's north and south inner city. He is in a relationship with an Irish woman who lives in the north inner city. He has been supplying drugs to a number of Dublin gangs in recent months but gardaí are unsure exactly when he started his drugs business here.
Garda sources said it was too early to put a value on the amount of cocaine he had distributed in the last 12 months but it is believed to run to several million euro. Gardaí became aware of his role in the Dublin drugs trade recently after receiving intelligence on him. He was placed under surveillance for a short period before the GNDU applied for search warrants and raided the Terenure property.
The seizure is the latest in a series of successful operations since the beginning of this year during which GNDU officers have arrested individuals believed to be key cocaine wholesalers. Compressor equipment has been recovered during drugs raids in Drogheda, Tipperary and Kildare.
Meanwhile, two non-nationals were arrested in Blanchardstown yesterday after a small quantity of cocaine was intercepted in the post. The drugs, valued at around €15,000, had come from Venezuela in air freight via Dublin Airport and were concealed in a parcel containing baby clothes.
They were delivered to a house in Blanchardstown yesterday afternoon as part of a controlled delivery. Gardaí arrested two non-nationals, a 21-year-old woman from Nigeria and a 17-year-old male from the Congo. The teenager was released a short time later. The woman was still being detained last night. The arrests were part of a joint operation between customs, GNDU and Blanchardstown gardaí.
