POLICE SERVICE of Northern Ireland chief constable Sir Hugh Orde yesterday praised the co-operation between his force, the Garda and Dutch police which led to the seizure in recent days of a huge haul of firearms and drugs.
He said 230 handguns, 10,000 rounds of ammunition, €450,000 in cash and heroin worth €4 million were seized in what was the largest operation in his memory.
“We have a large number of lethal weapons that were being distributed across Europe and, in particular, our concern was Northern Ireland and our colleagues in the Republic,” he said.
“This is a massive blow [against the gang]. To re-engineer a distribution network of this size would take a considerable period of time.
“There is without doubt a large number of people who will not be killed, who will not be attacked, and we will see far less availability of lethal weapons within the organised criminal community,” he said.