A large scale garda operation targeting organised crime has taken place in west Dublin, involving searches of 24 premises.
The searches and arrests, which took place under the banner of Operation Tara, resulted in the seizure of €700,000 in cash, 16 high value watches and eight vehicles as well as mobile phones and documentation.
Six people have been arrested, including five men and one woman aged in their 30s and 40s. They were arrested on suspicion of participation in the activities of a criminal organisation, to facilitate money laundering and drug trafficking.
One of the arrested men is understood to be a high-ranking member of a prominent organised crime gang in the Clondalkin area. The man and his gang have been a repeated target of the Criminal assets Bureau (CAB) in recent years.
The operation was led by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Unit (GNDOCB). The unit was assisted by Special Crime Task Force, the Special Tactics and Operations Command , the Air Support Unit, the Dog Unit and the Stolen Motor Vehicle Investigation Unit. Officers from the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and local gardaí in west Dublin also took part.
Targeting
Part of the operation involved the targeting of drug dealing and drug related intimidation in the area “including drug related threat to life incidents”, the Garda said in a statement.
Homes and businesses in Ballyfermot, Clondalkin, Lucan and Crumlin and Dublin city centre were searched, along with a number of vehicles.
In one instance, a large amount of cash was found in a Northern Irish registered car. The vehicle was stopped by the Emergency Response Unit as it travelled north on the N3. Inside officers found around €200,000.
Chief Supt Seamus Boland, head of the GNDOCB said the operation was "designed to make a significant impact on those involved in [organised crime groups] who are causing significant damage to communities in west Dublin and elsewhere".
Assistant Commissioner John O'Driscoll said such operations show that "criminals who are involved in organised crime groups that threaten the life and welfare of those living in communities throughout Ireland, will experience the determination of An Garda Síochána to ensure they are prosecuted and their organisations dismantled".
