One of Dublin's most significant drugs traffickers was being questioned by gardaí last night after he was arrested trying to flee the scene of a €7 million heroin seizure.
The arrest of the 35-year-old followed an intensive intelligence-led Garda surveillance operation targeting the importation of heroin for supply to the west Dublin market.
As part of the investigation, the Criminal Assets Bureau is freezing a number of bank accounts with a total of about €60,000 on deposit. Gardaí suspect the accounts were being used as part of an attempt to launder the proceeds of drug dealing.
The Garda helicopter, Garda Dog Unit, and local officers from the drugs units at Clondalkin and Ballyfermot were involved in the seizure on Tuesday night which was led by the Garda National Drugs Unit.
The Garda operation was put in place after officers received intelligence that the targeted dealer was attempting to take delivery of the heroin haul after its importation into the State.
The man, who has been heavily involved in the heroin trade for between 10 and 15 years and is originally from Ronanstown, was placed under close surveillance on Tuesday after being watched for several weeks.
He was observed being driven to Palmerstown in west Dublin. When he got out of that car he approached a parked van on Culmore Road. He was sorting the drugs in the van into bags when he saw gardaí approaching.
He ran from the gardaí, while carrying two bags of heroin, and made his way through a laneway and into a park just off Culmore Road. As he ran he discarded the kilo blocks of heroin in the bags. He was arrested in the park and the drugs were recovered.
Gardaí believe the bags were to be hidden in the park for collection by arrangement with other dealers.
The arrested man was taken to Clondalkin Garda station where he remained last night. In a follow-up operation a house at Old Tower Crescent, Clondalkin, was searched.
Documents were found which suggest the suspect has €60,000 on deposit in two bank accounts. The documents were taken for examination by officers from the Criminal Assets Bureau, which is now seeking to freeze the accounts.
A car was seized at the house along with a BMW from a nearby garage where it was being repaired. The vehicle in which the drugs were found was also seized by gardaí.
The suspect has a large number of convictions for larceny, assault and other offences. He has served a number of prison sentences.
He has had links to the drugs gang headed by John Gilligan, as well as a group of Irish drugs suppliers based in Liverpool. In recent years he escaped prosecution for his role in the importation of heroin valued at £1.5 million from the UK.
Two English nationals arrested with him when the drugs were seized in a pub car park in Dublin were convicted. One is still in prison here.
The suspect was a member of the so-called M50 gang, which carried out ram-raid robberies at garages and other premises off the motorway when it was first opened. He was once jailed for ramming a Garda car 10 times during one incident.
A woman known to the man was arrested in Clondalkin on Tuesday evening and she was also still being held by gardaí in Clondalkin last night.
A number of houses were searched in the Clondalkin area yesterday. The park where the suspect threw the drugs was sealed off on Tuesday night and a full search was carried out yesterday by the Garda Dog Unit.
Gardaí discovered a number of mobile phones in the park. The suspect is expected to appear before the courts as early as today.
