FOUR SUSPECTED members of one of the biggest drug gangs in Ireland are being questioned by gardaí after cannabis valued at €800,000 was seized on Saturday afternoon.
Gardaí believe the men are members of the crime gang based in Finglas, Dublin, that was led by Martin “Marlo” Hyland, who was murdered in 2006.
The first arrests on Saturday were made when gardaí stopped a car in Finglas. A search of the vehicle yielded 120kg of cannabis resin with an estimated street value of around €800,000.
Three men travelling in the vehicle, all of whom are in their 20s, were arrested. A fourth man, in his 30s, was later arrested in Co Meath.
The suspects are being held at Garda stations in Blanchardstown, Finglas and Cabra. They are being questioned under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act and can be held for up to seven days without charge.
The operation was led by the Garda National Drugs Unit and Organised Crime Unit assisted by local gardaí and detectives from the Dublin Metropolitan Region west and north divisions.
Garda sources said the arrested men were under surveillance as part of a major intelligence-led investigation into the activities of the Finglas gang once headed by Hyland.
Since he was shot dead by his own gang at a house in Finglas in December 2006 another major Finglas drug dealer and armed robber has taken control of the gang aided by a middle-aged criminal turned businessman.
The gang was behind the double murder in Dublin’s north inner city on January 7th of convicted heroin dealer Michael “Roly” Cronin (35) and his associate James Maloney (26), who had no criminal record.
The gang are also believed to have murdered one of their own members on January 21st as part of an internal row.
Graham McNally (35), Cappagh Avenue, Finglas, was shot several times in the head with a semi-automatic weapon on a cul-de-sac off the old Derry road at Coldwinters near Finglas.