‘Significant’ drug dealer was target of raid that netted €1m
A NORTH Dublin drug dealer was the prime target of a major Garda operation over the weekend which led to €1m in cash being seized.
The significant money haul was discovered concealed in a vehicle at an apartment complex in Raheny, Dublin, on Sunday afternoon by armed detectives.
Other searches were carried out in the city centre while several cars have also been recovered to be examined as part of the investigation.
A criminal, originally from the Cabra area and a long-term target for detectives, is understood to have been the prime target of the raids.
Sources said the man, who also has links to criminals in the Finglas area, has been using a taxi in an attempt to go about his criminal enterprise undetected.
“This individual is certainly a significant figure in relation to organised crime but has managed to go undetected for several years,” a senior source said.
“During the pandemic gardaí have also seen an increase in people using taxis or obtaining taxi licences in an effort to hide their assets when transporting large amounts of cash around the city.”
As part of the raids, the man’s Raheny home was searched and several cars were seized during the operation by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.
A Garda spokesman said that during the search of one vehicle a concealment of cash was discovered.
“The vehicle and its contents remain subject of examination,” he said.
“However, the amount seized is believed to exceed €1m,” he added.
The concealment of cash was vacuum-packed into several different bundles and was in the process of being transported.
Gardaí say their investigations into the €1m seizure are continuing and no arrests have yet been made.
It was the second major cash seizure in the capital in less than 24 hours following a separate operation in north Dublin where over €100,000 was seized.
Assistant Garda Commissioner John O’Driscoll, who is in charge of the Garda’s national units investigating organised and serious crime, said that seizures were the latest success against crime gangs they are targeting.
‘Gardaí have also seen an increase in people using taxis to hide their assets’
Disruption
“We continue to target those causing most harm in our community,” he said.
“This seizure of a significant quantity of cash will, we believe, contribute to the disruption and potential ultimate dismantling of particular organised crime groups that we continue to target, building on earlier success achieved, in recent years,” the senior officer said.
The seizure is among the most significant by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau so far this year and follows the recovery of in excess of €1m cash in Kildare earlier this month.
More than €3m in cash was seized in the first 17 days of 2021. Last year, the value of cash seized by the bureau more than doubled on the previous year as gardaí focused on targeting the profits being made by drugs gangs across the country.