Hutch associate among three men arrested after €2m drug seizure in Dublin

Gardaí have seized a variety of drugs estimated to be worth some €2 million following an operation in Dublin on Thursday.

Members of the force attached to the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau intercepted two vehicles around 5.00pm in the Blanchardstown area and carried out a co-ordinated search of a residential address in the same area.

During the searches, part of investigations targeting organised crime activity under Operation Tara, gardaí found quantities of cannabis, MDMA, cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis jellies

Three men, aged 35, 40 and 53, were arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking.

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The Irish Times understands one of the three men arrested is an associate of the Hutch family while one of the other suspects being held is from China.

The Hutch associate being questioned on Thursday night was regarded as a significant target of the Kinahan cartel during the height of the Kinahan-Hutch feud. He was at risk of being shot by the cartel several times and was warned by gardaí that his life was at risk.

He has been regarded as a serious criminal in the city’s underworld since he was a teenager. He has a large number of previous convictions, including for drug crime and armed robbery.

He has been jailed a number of times and rose up the ranks of the Hutch crime gang during the feud, as other gang members left the Republic, were jailed, shot or were restricted in their activities due to the threats against them.

They were being detained under Section 2 of Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996, at a Dublin Garda station on Thursday night.

Investigations remain ongoing.

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