Source: Irish Independent
Contact: independent.letters@independent.ie

Swoop by Garda drugs unit smashes cannabis gang

GARDAI have smashed a new bid by associates of caged gangland boss John
Gilligan to establish a major drug trafficking route into the country.

The crime gang were attempting to set up a new operation to replace the
ú20m racket shut down by gardai after Veronica Guerin's murder.

But last night their latest plans were in tatters after undercover
detectives seized cannabis resin with an estimated value of ú1.5m and
ú250,000 in cash.

Three men and a woman were being questioned last night including the main
player in the drug smuggling plan, a wellknown criminal in his 40s from
north Finglas.

The plot was foiled after detectives from the Garda National Drugs Unit
from Dublin Castle tailed a car travelling from Dublin's north inner city
to Glasnevin yesterday afternoon.

A search of the car revealed 100 kilos of cannabis, worth ú1m hidden in the
boot, and the driver was arrested.

As a result of followup searches in the north Finglas area, drugs unit
detectives seized another 50 kilos of cannabis and the cash and detained
two other men and a woman.

The four were being held last night at Santry garda station under section
two of the Drug Trafficking Act which allows the gardai to detain them for
up to seven days without charge.

Members of the national drugs unit, under Chief Supt Kevin Carty and Supt
Austin McNally, have been keeping watch on the gang and focussed on the
Finglas criminal in recent weeks when they became aware he was set to
become the key player in the plot.