£5.3MILLION HAUL SEIZED FROM DRUGS GANG

The £5.3 million haul of the amphetamine speed and cocaine seized by gardai
yesterday belonged to an Anglo-Irish drugs gang which has been importing
the drugs into Ireland and transhipping them into Britain.

Officers from the Garda National Drugs Bureau (GNDB) arrested two men, with
addresses in Mulhuddart, Co Dublin, and central London, after a brief car
chase in Co Kildare at lunchtime yesterday. The Garda surveillance plane
was involved and the car had been under observation since yesterday morning.

The chase ended on the main road between Celbridge and Naas shortly after
midday and an unmarked Garda car was damaged in a collision with the
suspect car. No one was injured.

A hold-all in the back of the 1997 red Fiat Punto was found to contain 30
kg of very pure amphetamine and two kg of cocaine. The amphetamine is
believed to be up to 40 per cent pure.

First estimates yesterday were that the amphetamine haul could have had a
final value of more than £5 million when diluted, usually with a powder.

However, a senior Garda source said last night that a final street value,
depending on forensic analysis, could be up to £10 million.

The two kg of cocaine are also believed to be of a very high purity and
could be worth more than £300,000, according to senior Garda sources.

The haul, the result of an investigation known as "Operation Reflect", is
the third major blow to the gang which has been operating between Britain
and the Republic. It is estimated that yesterday's seizure may have cost
the gang £1 million to buy and transport.

On Wednesday night, north Wales police arrested two Englishmen who had
travelled from Dun Laoghaire on the ferry as they arrived in Holyhead and
seized 18 kg of amphetamine.

Last November, as part of the same investigation, the Garda National Drugs
Unit seized 100 kg of amphetamine and four kg of cocaine in a raid on a
house in Enfield, Co Meath.

The drugs seized yesterday are believed to have been packaged in the same
way as the other seizures, with similar high purity levels.

The drugs are thought to have originated in The Netherlands and British
police have shared information with the Garda on the packaging similarities
with drugs seizures in Britain.

The two men, in their late 20s, were taken to Kells Garda station for
questioning. The man with the London address is believed to be an Irish
national who had been living in Britain for some time. The two men can be
held for up to seven days.

Yesterday's operation is the latest in a number of drugs seizures this month.

In an operation targeted at activities in Limerick and Cork earlier this
month, called "Operation Blackwater", gardai from the Cork National Drugs
Unit and the GNDB seized £4.2 million worth of cannabis resin. A stronger
form of cannabis was seized in Cahir, Co Tipperary.

About 40,000 ecstasy tablets were seized in Dublin earlier this month,
along with a small quantity of heroin and cocaine. The full haul had an
estimated street value of £400,000.