A MAJOR organised crime gang led by two men who are high-priority garda targets has been left on its knees after its distribution hub was smashed.
It was the second huge blow to the mob – who were transporting drugs in modified cars from the midlands into west Dublin – delivered by the Dublin Crime Response Team in seven months.
The long-running operation saw investigators pounce on Tuesday and seize €14million worth of cocaine and cannabis in raids.
Cops recovered 182kg of cocaine and 4kg of cannabis herb from a commercial site in Mountmellick in Co Laois which the gang was using as its distribution hub.
In follow-up searches in Lucan and in Rathcoole in the capital, a further 17kg of coke, along with €25,000, was nabbed, bringing the haul to a total of 199kg.
Gardai say the drugs that were seized were ready to be mixed and repackaged before being distributed.
The Irish Sun has learned that the gang targeted is led by two brothers in northwest Dublin who have been long in operation, filling the void left by their murdered associate Eamon ‘The Don’ Dunne in 2010.
They have been high-priority targets for gardai for a number of years as well as the Criminal Assets Bureau.
The gang had been running a “very sophisticated” distribution hub from Mountmellick.
Gardai discovered eight cars there which had been modified to create secret compartments to transport drugs.
This was done by cutting into panels, sealing them and disguising them again while other drug paraphernalia was also discovered at the site.
Assistant Commissioner for the Dublin Metropolitan Region Paul Cleary said: “It was a big operation down here and the set up was very sophisticated.
WHOLE NETWORK ‘TAKEN OUT’
“So they had their equipment for mixing and cooking and re-bagging and sealing and stamping and then into the modified cars there for distribution.
“It’s the whole network we’re satisfied that we have taken out from importation to the mixing and bagging and distribution, the whole network which was supplying into the west Dublin communities.”
Three suspects from Poland – who detectives believe are “high up in the hierarchy” of the mob – are being quizzed in custody.
The group was targeted last July when €8million in drugs and €1million in cash was seized by the same garda unit in north Dublin.
‘SEVERELY DISRUPTED’
Assistant Commissioner Cleary added: “This was the result of an attempted lead operation that has been going on for many months and follows on from another big seizure last year.
“With this particular seizure we are satisfied that we have dismantled the whole supply network for cocaine into west Dublin and severely disrupted the activities of the organised crime gang behind that supply network.
“So it’s a significant seizure and we have stopped these drugs getting into our communities in west Dublin, those communities that have been devastated by drugs and we’ve seen that force happen.”
