GARDAI have arrested a target of their 1995 Urlingford "sting operation, in which they imported £130 million worth of cannabis in an attempt to trap a Dublin drug gang, writes John Maher.
The man, a drug dealer from Finglas, was arrested in the city on Saturday. A bag containing 2000 ecstasy tablets, with a street value of up to £20,000, was seized. An associate and a woman related to the arrested man have also been arrested. All three are detained under drug trafficking legislation, which allows them to be held for up to seven days without charge.
The man was a member of a gang which put up about £1 million to import the cannabis into the State in November 1995. The Garda took over the smuggling operation and undercover officers brought the drugs into Castletownbere, Co Cork, from where they were transferred to a lorry and later displayed by the force at Urlingford, Co Kilkenny.
At the time the Garda was criticised for failing to make any arrests, although £250,000 in cash was seized from the gang in Dublin on the same day.