Police target Irish drugs gang in Europe-wide raids

Police targeting an Irish organised crime gang have arrested 32 people during co-ordinated raids in Ireland, Britain and Spain this morning.

A 53-year-old Dublin man was detained at his mansion in the Malaga area with his two sons. He served a prison term in Ireland in the 1980s for heroin dealing.

An Irish-born British passport holder, he is believed to mastermind the drugs empire from his base on the Costa del Sol.

The gang's activities include the supply and distribution of drugs and weapons. It has links to other gangs across Europe and was involved in the trafficking of cocaine, cannabis and heroin. It is also suspected of laundering millions of euro for criminal gangs through a network of businesses in Ireland, Spain and the UK.

Today’s raids follow two years of preparation, including surveillance and monitoring of the gang’s finances.

Some 17 premises were searched in Ireland, Spain, the UK, Belgium, Cyprus and Brazil as part of the operation, which began at 4.30am and involved some 750 officers. Police seized quantities of cash, guns and drugs in the raids.

In Britain, some 230 officers searched business and residential premises and arrested nine men and two women. They are being held at police stations in the Thames Valley, Kent and the West Midlands.

A total of 20 people, many of them Irish and British., were arrested in Spain. Those arrested included four Spanish lawyers. All 20 are being held for questioning at a police station in Malaga.

One man in his mid 20s was arrested in Dublin's north inner city during this morning’s raids on a number of business and residential premises in Dublin and Co Meath. He is being held at Store Street station under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Drug Trafficking Act, 1996.

A Garda spokesman said gardaí have been working for a “considerable period of time” with international police

in a bid to disrupt the gang.

Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy described the ongoing operation as extensive and focused. “The message from today’s operation is clear: there is no hiding place for those who seek to bring misery and hurt to communities here in Ireland and abroad,” he said. “If people choose to trade drugs and death across borders, police will work together across those same borders to address that challenge and disrupt criminal activity.”

Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said the massive police operation showed the determination to crack down on international gangs.

“The fact is that no border will protect those involved in organised crime,” he said. “Today’s events are evidence of the determination of those involved in law enforcement, fully supported by their governments, to take international gangs straight on.”

The head of the Garda National Drugs Unit, Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Quilter, said “no stone would be left unturned” in the efforts to tackle drugs gangs. “It’s part of our strategy to target these high-level operators who, while not based in this jurisdiction, are keen to enjoy the profits of their success and it is our intention to derive them of that,” he said.

Trevor Peace of the UK's Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca) said the scale of the joint operation is an indication of how prolific the gang is believed to be. He said today’s arrests “will have dealt a major blow” to the gang, which is suspected of supplying drugs and guns to criminals across Europe.

“We also believe this network has been offering a global investment service, ploughing hundreds of millions of pounds of dirty cash into offshore accounts, companies, and property on behalf of criminals,” Mr Pearce said. “A financial investigation is already underway.”