Gangland killer suspected of being behind €1m heroin haul

A gangland murderer who was convicted of orchestrating a million euro drug shipment from his prison cell while already serving a life term is under investigation for directing drug trafficking from jail.

Dublin gang leader Brian Rattigan is the chief suspect for planning the sale of a consignment of heroin valued at €1 million seized in the city on Tuesday.

The drugs were found by members of the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau during an intelligence-led operation against a gang based in Ballyfermot, west Dublin.

When a vehicle carrying two suspects was stopped and searched, heroin with an estimated street value of €1 million was found.

The men - aged 20 and 45 - were arrested under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act. They were being questioned at Kevin Street and Irishtown Garda stations in the south inner city.

Rattigan, from Cooley Road, Drimnagh, was jailed for life in 2009 for the stabbing murder of Declan Gavin (21) outside a fast food outlet in Crumlin in 2001.

The killing began a gun feud between rival gangs in Crumlin and Drimnagh that has claimed the lives of a dozen men.

In February 2013 he became the first drug dealer to be found guilty of charges connected to directing the supply of drugs while in prison and was jailed for 17 years by the Special Criminal Court.

The 34-year-old was found to be the director of a drugs gang conducting a €1 million heroin deal when the consignment was intercepted by the Garda.

Now he is suspected of directing the drug deal foiled by the Garda on Tuesday.

Sources said it was believed he had again organised the sale of the drugs via smuggled mobile phones on the gangland landing of the high security Portlaoise Prison.