Gardaí have seized up to €2 million worth of drugs in five separate operations in under a week, the culmination of what it has described as an aggressive strike against organised crime.
Ten people in total were arrested across all of the operations.
The drug haul includes heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis, along with about €80,000 in cash and, in one operation, a military grade Mac 10 machine gun.
Raids on properties on Thursday also saw the confiscation of jewellery worth €30,000 and an Audi A3.
At a briefing on Thursday, officers said the raids represented a blow against organised crime throughout Ireland but specifically on the east coast.
Separate operations targeted Co Louth on Saturday, Castlenock in Dublin on Monday, Finglas in Dublin and Bellewstown, Co Meath on Wednesday and the south inner city on Thursday. Arrests were made in each case.
The Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB) and the Special Crime Task Force (SCTF) carried out the seizures.
“This is quite a significant blow against organised crime in the State,” Det Supt Tony Howard of the DOCB said.
The seizures are not thought to be connected, while the drugs involved, now under analysis, are estimated to be worth at least €1 million - rising to as much as €2 million.
“This wasn’t one particular group. I can state that there were at least four groups attached to these seizures,” Supt Howard said.
Gardaí are pitching the activity as part of a protracted fight against organised crime, although the public’s attention in the last year has been focused on the violence associated with the Hutch and Spain-based Kinahan families which has led to the murders of 10 people so far.
“The level of violence in a short period of time earlier this year was quite staggering,” Supt Howard said.
In relation to weaponry, gardaí say while there is always a significant number of annual handgun seizures, the discovery this year to date of about 20 weapons has included five assault rifles and one submachine gun.
Statistically speaking, Supt Howard said, the amount of cannabis in circulation in Ireland has fallen. This did not appear to be the case with cocaine and heroin.
“They are omnipresent - they are available,” he said.
The latest of the week’s activity came on Thursday as part of Operation Thistle, aimed at tackling organised crime in the south inner city.
Four premises in Dublin were targeted, leading to the recovery of heroin with an estimated street value of €3,000 and what detectives described as a substantial sum of money.
They also recovered stolen property, including jewellery to the value of €30,000, a €15,000 watch and an Audi A3. Documents recovered at one of the locations are to be forensically examined.
A man and a woman, both in their 20s, were arrested and taken to Kevin Street Garda station under section two of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act.
On Wednesday, more than half a million euro’s worth of drugs were uncovered at a raid on a premises in Bellewstown, Co Meath. Two men were arrested.
Additional reporting: Press Association