Cocaine worth €350,000 and phones seized in drugs raid
DETECTIVES seized cocaine worth €350,000 and encrypted phones in an operation targeting the most prolific coke-dealing gang in west Dublin.
Details of Monday’s operation in the Cherry Orchard area of Ballyfermot – which was led by the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau – were released yesterday.
A 29-year-old “foot soldier” for the organisation remained in custody last night at Clondalkin garda station, where he was being questioned about the huge drugs haul and also about a number of “encrypted communications devices” which were seized at the house in the Barnville Park estate.
The mob have links to the Kinahan cartel and have become one of the biggest drug-trafficking mobs in the capital over the past five years. The leader is a vicious crack-cocaine dealer, but he was not arrested.
Aged in his early 30s, he previously served a lengthy jail sentence after being caught with almost €50,000 worth of crack cocaine in a west Dublin apartment.
He was previously arrested in relation to the murder of Dean Johnson (21), an innocent victim of the Clondalkin feud who was gunned down in 2013.
Since the murder of Mr Johnson, gardaí believe he has “risen up the crime ladder” and become a senior member of the Cl on dal kin-based organised crime gang.
The drug trafficker and his gang were involved in a local feud with James ‘Nellie’ Walsh and his associates, which claimed four lives before tensions in the feud eased at the start of last year, with the group who were the targets of Monday’s operation coming out on top.
In September 2017, Darragh Nugent (36) and John Gibson (27), were shot dead a week apart as part of the feud.
They were aligned to‘ Nellie’ Walsh, but Mr Gibson was not considered a major player and may have been targeted because of his relationship with a female relative of Mr Walsh.
Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll, who heads An
Garda Síochána’s special crime operations, said: “The Garda Síochána is alert to the fact that particular criminals and organised crime groups may continue to operate while we are tackling issues associated with the existence of the coronavirus – or may attempt to take advantage of its existence.
“For this purpose, each of the bureaus within special crime operations is targeting particular criminals and OCGs who are known, or suspected, to engage in a wide range of criminal activity and will continue to do so until the virus no longer represents a problem within the communities we serve.”
Drug units across the country “need to pay particular attention” to what properties they may raid in the coming weeks because of the coronavirus, according to senior sources.