TWO OF three men arrested in connection with the discovery of drugs valued at over €5 million are due to appear before the courts this morning. A third man has been released without charge.
The haul of heroin and cannabis was found in the Dublin suburbs of Clondalkin and Crumlin.
The Garda operation began at 5pm on Thursday when a storage facility in Clondalkin was raided. Gardaí found 20kg of heroin as well as 35kg of cannabis herb.
Most of the drugs were still being stored but a small amount was being taken from the facility in a car driven by a Polish national when gardaí moved in. The Polish man, who lives in Finglas, Dublin, was arrested at the scene.
A second arrest was made just outside the facility. That suspect was in a car and gardaí believe he was about to take delivery of the drugs from the Polish man or was acting as a lookout for him.
The second man arrested is from Tallaght in Dublin. He was on bail having been charged in recent months in relation to another heroin find. He has links to Limerick's feuding Keane gang.
The man is also closely associated with a criminal from Crumlin who is in prison for serious firearms and drugs offences.
The inmate is the leader of one of two gangs involved in a feud in Crumlin and Drimnagh which has claimed 10 lives in recent years.
Gardaí believe the prisoner owned some of the drugs and most likely used a smuggled mobile phone in his prison cell to help organise their importation into the State.
Another prisoner who was formerly associated with drug dealer John Gilligan is also believed to have had a role in the botched drug deal.
The third arrested man is from Dublin's North Circular Road. He was detained by gardaí in the city centre in relation to the drugs find in Clondalkin. He is an employee of the storage firm where the drugs were found.
In a follow-up operation gardaí searched a car in Errigal Rd, Crumlin, and found 5kg of heroin in the vehicle.
The drugs were being analysed to assess purity but Garda sources put the combined street value at around €5 million.
The operation was carried out by members of the Garda's Organised Crime Unit and officers from the Garda National Drugs Unit and local drug unit in Clondalkin Garda station.
The arrested men had been under surveillance as part of an intelligence-led operation. It was unclear how long the drugs had been at the Clondalkin facility or when they were imported into the Republic.
Gardaí believe most of the drugs were being readied for distribution in Dublin and Limerick.
The three arrested men were detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act.
Fine Gael's spokesman on justice Charlie Flanagan TD said the fact that a man on bail and another in prison have been implicated in the seizure exposed the "shambolic state of the criminal justice system".