GARDAÍ BELIEVE they have uncovered a previously unheard of drugs gang operating on a large scale in the Republic following the discovery of a cannabis growing operation with plants valued at €500,000.
The find was made, and three suspects arrested, at the weekend when gardaí raided premises in Drumcondra, north Dublin, and discovered about 1,000 plants in a sophisticated grow house.
The find brings to 21 the number of grow houses found since last July under the Garda National Drug Unit’s Operation Nitrogen, which targets gangs behind cannabis cultivation.
In the latest operation, members of the unit and gardaí from Dublin’s Bridewell Garda station raided premises in Drumcondra on Saturday and discovered some 1,000 plants on three floors of the building. The building houses a dry cleaners on the ground floor with the plants growing in six rooms above the business.
Gardaí believe the gang that owned the plants was renting and operating the dry cleaning business as a front. They are trying to establish if other businesses were rented and are being operated by the gang as a front for other cannabis growing operations.
“We believe these people are significant players in the cannabis growing trade here and that the house we’ve found is not a one off,” said one Garda source.
The gang had kitted out the building in Drumcondra with high wattage lamps to grow cannabis plants and lined the rooms’ walls and floors with reflective material to generate maximum light and heat for growing conditions.
Gardaí believe a woman was installed by the gang in the building to tend to the crop. However, she was not there when it was raided. The facility was the second largest cannabis cultivation operation found in the Republic. The plants were growing for around two months and were just two to three weeks away from being fully mature and ready for harvesting.
When gardaí raided the premises, they found two men and arrested them. The suspects, who are 32-years-old and from China, were arrested under Section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act. They were being held at the Bridewell Garda station last night.
Gardaí carried out a number of follow-up searches. During one of those operations, also in the Drumcondra area, a 27-year-old Chinese man was arrested.
