This was the scene as gardai carried out raids cracking down on dealers using young kids to move their poison.
Locals have raised concerns that children as young as 13 are being paid by dealers operating in communities in Dublin’s north inner city. But gardai are targeting the groups through surveillance, drug searches and seizures.
Dublin Live last week joined officers from Mountjoy Garda station on a day of action, led by Sergeant Paul Daly, focusing on criminality in the area. In one early- morning raid, officers targeted a lower-to-mid-level drug dealer who is based in the Ballybough area.
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And Supt Martin Mooney said youngsters are using e-scooters in their roles for drug gangs, but vowed his team will keep targeting them. The senior officer, who has more than 40 years experience, told us: “In the Ballybough and Summerhill areas we have street level dealing there.
“You can see youngsters there on the e-scooters, either as lookouts up and down the street or alternatively you see when money is paid over, they could walk over to a stash, come back with say just the bare amounts. So if they are caught they only have to say a small amount as if you’re in possession.
“But our operations do have an impact there where there is a deficit of drugs. And for the community aspect and to reassure them, every now and then we have days of actions where we target the lower level dealers there.”
Supt Mooney also explained Operation Canter – a high-visibility uniform presence that deals with predominantly drug dealing or public order issues – is in place in the Ballybough, Summerhill and Sean McDermott areas. The Day of Action saw officers gather at Mountjoy station for a briefing by Sgt Daly on the searches they were carrying out.
Two teams were deployed and, while the drugs search was happening in Ballybough, another raid was simultaneously taking place at a property in Meath. Alloys had been stolen from a car in the district and investigations established a sham business was selling stolen car parts and it is suspected they were linked to the pilfered property.
Supt Mooney added: “We run days of actions every so often. If there was unauthorised taking of stolen cars, they could be taken out there and cut up. So the investigation led out to Meath and a small amount of property recovered up there.”
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Later in the day, Sgt Daly, Sgt Ben Geoghegan and their colleagues were called to an incident where a man was making threats to kill while holding a knife and hammer. Gardai disarmed the man, arrested him and later charged him over the incident.
Elsewhere, officers came upon a motorbike which they suspected was stolen before they later established it had false plates. The investigation later found it had been stolen in Germany.
Also a priority for gardai at Mountjoy is tackling domestic abuse. Much of the Day of Action saw gardai serving a number of protective orders in the area. Supt Mooney said: “If we have any breach of orders, it is a pro-arrest policy, as simple as that. They will be arrested, charged or brought before the courts.”
He also oversees the nearby Fitzgibbon Garda station, reopened last year for the first time since 2011. The base is key in their community policing as it is tailored for victims and the use of those who live in the area.
Supt Mooney explained: “It’s for all victims, not just sexual abuse, victims of all crimes. What’s down in Fitzgibbon Street is the softer side of policing. I have my community policing units, CRTs which is the community response team.
“However, if I have a problem, say a series of break-ins or in a series of burglaries or criminal damage or so forth, they will be tasked to either saturate the area to show prevention and visibility or in an undercover capacity there to try and catch the perpetrators. Also down there is the Child Protection Unit. They mostly deal with TUSLA. Anything child related they’re specifically tasked with that.”
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