Six non-nationals were in custody last night following the seizure of chemicals which gardaí believe could have been used to make €500 million worth of drugs, write Regina Daly and Sorcha Crowley.
The chemicals, in liquid form and which are used to make ecstasy and amphetamines, were seized in Dublin following a joint operation between police forces in Ireland and the Netherlands.
Gardaí say the total volume seized had the potential to manufacture 50 million ecstasy tablets and 2½ tonnes of amphetamines.
A Garda spokesperson said the street value was in the region of €500 million.
The precursor chemicals, in the form of vegetable oil, were found in forty-five 200 litre drums which came through Rotterdam from China. They were recovered during a raid in a warehouse in Walkinstown.
Four of the six arrested are Chinese, two of them women. One is from Macau and the sixth is from Afghanistan, a Garda source told The Irish Times.
The Dutch authorities noticed there were Irish company names involved in the consignment. They alerted the Irish authorities who followed the delivery to Walkinstown.
A revenue source said that it was believed the oil was going to be broken down into smaller quantities here and re-distributed to European destinations.
The source said it was clear Ireland was going to be the hub for the distribution of the chemicals.
The six people are being held in Clondalkin and Tallaght Garda stations, in what is thought to be the biggest drugs-related haul ever in the State.
The arrests followed a combined operation over a number of months by the Garda National Drugs Unit, Customs Enforcement Officers and police in the Netherlands.
The six are being held under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice ( Drug Trafficking) Act. They can be held for up to seven days.
A Garda spokesperson said investigations are continuing both here and in the Netherlands.
It is the third drugs haul in Dublin in a week. On Thursday last, gardaí seized drugs worth €11 million in two separate drugs hauls - one in Blanchardstown and the other in Phibsboro.