Four people were being questioned in Dublin today as part of a major anti-drug trafficking operation, mounted following the discovery of the body of an Irishman in a fridge in Portugal.
They were detained during raids in various parts of Dublin during which drugs with a street value of well over one million euros were seized.
The operation was mounted after police in the Algarve holiday region discovered the body in the fridge in an apartment on Thursday during an investigation into the activities of an international drugs gang.
The gang is said to have connections in London, Spain and Portugal. The dead man is understood to be a 38-year-old from Cork.
Portuguese police have arrested five people in connection with the murder , four of whom are Irishmen from Cork, Coolock and Dublin. A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin said they were aware of the case.
"The embassy in Lisbon is looking into it," said a spokesman. The four arrests in the Dublin area were made in a series of raids.
A man in his early 30s was detained when 12kg of cocaine and several kilograms of a mixing agent, as well as a substantial sum of money, was discovered at a house near Balbriggan, Co Dublin.
A further two men, one in his 50s and the other in his 20s were arrested in Blanchardstown, Dublin. Three more kilos of cocaine, an imitation firearm and two cars were seized.
All the men were being held under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice [Drug Trafficking] Act, said a Garda spokesman. In another linked raid a 45-year-old woman was arrested in the Ballymun area of Dublin and a firearm recovered.
A garda spokesman said the operation was being run by the Garda National Drugs Unit who were liaising with the authorities in Portugal.