Organised criminal gangs using industrial estates to store drugs
By Maurice Garvey
CRIMINAL gangs are using industrial estates as part of their operation for storing drugs.
The recent JPC Policing Meeting noted a significant drug seizure on Grants Road, Greenogue Industrial Estate in Rathcoole.
Gardai are targetting industrial estates as part of their operation. Gardai carried out an operation in Greenogue Industrial Estate which resulted in arrests and seizure of drugs
The Greenogue premises was searched earlier this year on February 25, during a wider operation coordinated by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB).
The operation saw three men arrested and cannabis with a street value of €720,000 seized, following property searches in Ashbourne and West Dublin.
The investigation was carried out in late February, targeting serious organised criminal activity.
Personnel attached to the GNDOCB, assisted by Revenue Customs and the Garda Dog Unit stopped and searched four vehicles in Ashbourne and West Dublin. Four addresses in Dublin, Meath and Louth were also searched.
The three men, two aged in their 30s and one 40s, were detained at Ashbourne and Ronanstown garda stations.
A garda spokesperson told The Echo: “In the course of the operation a further quantity of cash was located and seized in a search undertaken of a vehicle. The total amount of cash seized is €227,000.”
Senior gardai in Clondalkin say there is evidence that criminal gangs are using industrial estates in the policing district.
Lucan Garda Superintendent Paul Dolan also reported drug seizures at industrial estates, but says it is “nothing new”.
“We have found drugs at industrial estates and at domestic premises, it is nothing new. Anywhere people are congregating, we are looking,” he said.
The three men arrested during the GNDOCB led operation appeared before a sitting of Dublin District Court in Cloverhill on February 27.
A garda spokesperson said: “As this matter is before the courts, we are not in a position to provide any further comment.”
By subscribing to The Echo you are supporting your local newspaper Click Here: Echo Online.
