FOUR MEN have been arrested following another major heroin seizure. One of the men is regarded by gardaí as the de facto leader of one of the most active drugs gangs in the country.
The suspects were detained after heroin with a street value of about €1.2 million was found when a convoy of vehicles was stopped and searched as part of a planned Garda operation.
The haul was seized on Wednesday at 9pm on Kennelsfort Road, Palmerstown, in west Dublin. Local gardaí and members of a number of specialist Garda units stopped four vehicles. A search yielded some six kilos of the drug. The four arrested men are all in their 20s and have addresses in Crumlin, Drimnagh and Ballyfermot.
Senior Garda sources said the men were members of an organised gang based around Crumlin and Drimnagh that had been involved in a gun feud with another gang from the areas.
Since the feud began at the beginning of the decade, 10 men have lost their lives in tit-for-tat attacks.
The violence has escalated in recent weeks, with some of those involved fleeing to Spain after a number of drive-by shootings in which the homes of innocent relatives of gang members were targeted.
The leader of the gang who owns the drugs seized on Wednesday is in prison serving a sentence for drugs and firearms offences. In his absence, one of the men arrested with the drugs has assumed leadership of the group.
Wednesday's arrests bring to 13 the number of gang members arrested or charged in recent days in relation to serious firearms and drugs offences.
The men arrested on Wednesday were being detained last night at Ballyfermot and Clondalkin Garda stations. They were being questioned under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act and can be held for up to seven days without charge.
Their arrests were part of a continuing operation targeting the Crumlin-Drimnagh gangs and involved members of the Organised Crime Unit, Garda National Drugs Unit, National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and local gardaí.
Wednesday's seizure is the latest in a series of operations in which very substantial quantities of heroin have been found.
Ten days ago, heroin valued at €1 million was seized during a search of a house in Ballyfermot, west Dublin. On July 7th, heroin valued at €4 million was found when gardaí stopped a car on the Navan Road just after it had left the M50.
In June, heroin and cannabis with a street value of €4.5 million was seized in Clondalkin. In May, heroin valued at €1 million was seized in Walkinstown.