Gardaí seize 10 firearms and €5m worth of drugs in series of operations across Dublin

Gardaí in Dublin seized 10 firearms and an estimated €5 million worth of drugs in a series of operationstargeting serious crime and illicit drug supply in the city in over 20 searches in the last week.

Last Friday, gardaí in Clondalkin detained a man in his 20s after a PM-63C RAK semi-automatic machine pistol and nine rounds of ammunition were recovered following the search of a house. The man, arrested under the Offences against the State Act 1939, was later released “pending further investigations”.

On Saturday, gardaí recovered two firearms in a park in Ballymun. No arrests have been made in connection with the discovery.

On Tuesday, the Garda’s Dublin Crime Response Team recovered €80,000 worth of cannabis following the planned search of a house in Fortunestown in southwest Dublin. A man in his 40s was detained and later charged in relation to the seizure.

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On Wednesday, Ronanstown gardaí seized seven firearms, ammunition and cannabis and cocaine with a combined worth of roughly €300,000 following planned searches of four houses in the Clondalkin area.

Additionally, off the back of the Clondalkin searches, €67,000 was frozen in a bank account, and tracker devices and mobiles phones were seized. Ronanstown gardaí continue to investigate.

In a separate operation on Wednesday, gardaí seized cannabis with an estimated value of €200,000 during the search of a vehicle on Beresford Street, Dublin 7. Two men were arrested at the scene and were in custody on Thursday evening.

A follow-up search at a house in Finglas yielded the seizure of cannabis worth an estimated €300,000. A man in his 20s was arrested, and was in custody on Thursday evening.

Another search, also off the back of the Beresford Street seizure, was conducted at a business premises in Dublin 12, and resulted in the seizure of cannabis and cocaine valued at €3 million.

Also on Wednesday, in a separate operation, customs officers connected to Revenue discovered 55kg of herbal cannabis – valued at €1.1 million – concealed in a van arriving at Dublin Port via ferry from the UK.

Gardaí arrested a man in his 50s following the discovery. He was in Garda custody under drug trafficking legislation on Thursday evening.

In a statement, Assistant Commissioner for the Dublin Region, Angela Willis acknowledged the “continuous efforts” of An Garda Síochána members working in Dublin in “tackling serious criminality and those that cause the most harm to communities”.

“Removing 10 lethal firearms from circulation will no doubt save many lives and contribute to our efforts to keep communities safe.

“The impact of the seizure of significant quantities of illicit drugs and cash, believed to represent the proceeds of criminality, will also ensure that we continue to affect the ability of criminal networks to operate in our communities,” she said.

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