GARDAI SEIZE £4.6M DRUGS HAUL

Cocaine & cannabis ‘not linked’ to feud gangsters

A DRUGS haul worth £4.6million which was seized in the South is not believed to be connected to the Kinahan cartel – but to a new consortium of criminals.

Gardai in Co Meath arrested one man after finding cocaine worth £1.8million, cannabis herb with the street value of £2.8million and cannabis worth £43,000. The £1.8million cocaine seizure is the biggest so far this year. However, investigators do not believe it belongs to the cartel headed by Christy Kinahan – currently involved in a bloody feud with the Hutch gang – and are working on the theory other criminals are involved. A source said: “Unusually, this is not the work of the Kinahan gang. A group of criminals pooled their money together in a pot to buy these drugs but unfortunately for them it has gone horribly wrong. “This is a serious amount of money and would have involved them using their own supply and distribution network.” Gardai from Meath Divisional Drugs Unit conducted a search at a house at Clinstown, Stamullen, at 2.45pm on Thursday. Officers from Ashbourne Detective Unit and the Garda Dog Unit assisted in the operation when the large quantity of narcotics was uncovered. In total 160kgs of suspected cannabis herb was found along with approximately 30kgs of suspected cocaine and 2.5kgs of suspected cannabis resin. Chief Supt Fergus Healy of Meath Division revealed a man in his 30s was arrested at the scene and is being detained at Kells Garda station under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996. In January this year a £32.5million stash of drugs was intercepted as it arrived in Dublin Port. Officers seized 1,873kgs of herbal cannabis on that occasion believed to belong to the Kinahan cartel. The drugs are understood to have been hidden in farm machinery in a number of vehicles. It was one of the biggest ever seizures of cannabis made in Ireland. The haul came through Europe but originated in Africa. The drugs were in three large wooden containers and hidden so they couldn’t be identified by X-ray or sniffer dogs.

A group of criminals pooled their money in a pot to buy these drugs SOURCE ON £4.6M DRUGS HAUL SEIZED BY GARDAI

OFF THE STREETS Drugs on display yesterday after Co Meath seizure RAID Detective shows some of the drugs seizure QUIZZED One suspect is being held in Kells station MIXED BAGS Cannabis and cocaine