An €8.4million cocaine haul flown into Ireland by the Kinahan cartel was to be passed on to a network of gangs, sources told the Irish Mirror last night.
The Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau dealt another major blow to the cartel on Thursday, the third such interception in just over a month.
Read more: Airplane and cocaine worth millions seized in huge garda raid spanning four counties
The operation was launched after a light aircraft landed in a commercial airfield in Abbeyshrule, Co Longford, flown from Dieppe-Saint-Aubin Airport in France, just before 5.25pm.
Gardai believe the cocaine was unloaded and put into a car which then travelled in convoy with another vehicle.
But officers from the DOCB, supported by armed cops from the Emergency Response Unit, stopped the cars in the Lough Owel area of Co Westmeath.
In one of the vehicles, six holdall bags and one suitcase were found stuffed with 120kgs of cocaine.
Two men, aged 40 and 54 – including the suspected pilot – were arrested and taken to Ashbourne Garda Station in Co Meath on suspicion of drug trafficking
In follow-up searches on Thursday evening and Friday morning, the aircraft was seized.
Houses were also raided in Naas, Co Kildare, and Waterford city and
detectives took communication devices which could hold vital evidence.
Investigators believe the cocaine was organised by the cartel and was to be sold to a number of groups.
Sources said the Kinahan cartel are using a network of gangs throughout the country for logistics and distribution.
A source said: “The Kinahan cartel are behind this and are only one of two to three gangs that could organise such a consignment to be smuggled in here.
“What the Kinahans are doing is using a network of gangs around the country.
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“So they are organising the drugs coming in on a wholesale basis and this network of gangs put money in the pot which goes to the Kinahan gang in advance of the drugs arriving.
“The gangs take it over when it arrives here to be transported to around local groups.
“It isn’t just for Dublin city. These drugs were destined for right across the country, in particular the Midlands.
“But these seizures have a major impact on the ground with these gangs here.
“The Kinahans deal in the multi-millions. The smaller guys have a lot of money but nothing in comparison to that level of finance.
“They are putting forward significant amounts of cash up front. But when seizures like this happen, that money is lost.
“There are no refunds or insurance in that business and it puts a lot of pressure on those gangs.”
The seizures were made under Operation Tara, a nationally co-ordinated plan to target mid and street level drug pushers.
Intelligence from other sections of the gardai were also crucial in the seizure.
Despite mob boss Daniel Kinahan, his father Christy “Dapper Don” and brother Christy Jnr being placed under US Government sanctions, their
business of drug trafficking on a global scale has continued.
But gardai are going toe-to-toe with them, having seized €6.9million worth of their cannabis in the south-east of last month in a suspected drugs distribution centre.
At the end of June, €2million worth of the mob’s drugs were also intercepted.
Another source said: “Gardai are aware that despite the sanctions in place, many have stayed loyal to the Kinahan group and continue to operate on their behalf organising shipments to the Irish and the UK markets.
“Recent seizures of cannabis, significant ones in recent months, all go back to the Kinahans too.”
In the first six months of this year, more than €16.4million worth of drugs have been seized by divisional drug units around the country.
The DOCB has nabbed in excess of €35million in narcotics, which brings the total street value of seizures this year in excess of €51million.
Det Chief Supt Seamus Boland, who leads the DOCB, said the force’s operations have caused huge disruptions to the gangs.
He also hailed the collaboration with international police law enforcement.
The senior garda added Thursday’s seizure was clearly linked to a transnational gang.
Speaking yesterday, he said: “It should be obvious that any drug network that has the capability to purchase and transport drugs of this quantity to any jurisdiction is working on a global scale.
“Our belief is the drugs seized were flown into Ireland on Thursday.
“We are not safe from international or transnational drug trafficking and unfortunately this once again shows that significant and high-level organised crimes and transnational groups are operating in this country.
“They are transporting significant amounts of cocaine and other drugs into Ireland.”
Chief Supt Boland also told how the quantity of drugs seized highlights the demand for them in Ireland and in wider Europe is huge.
And he warned those taking the substances recreationally are fuelling these mobs’ coffers. Although the majority of drugs are transported here through ports, Det Chief Supt Boland said this method of smuggling is nothing new.
Earlier this year, gardai arrested three non-nationals who touched down in a plane at Waterford Airport with €3.5million worth of cocaine.
In 2006, heroin with a value of €10million was seized after a Irish-owned private jet was impounded in Belgium. The aircraft – which the late Dublin businessman Jim Mansfield confirmed he owned but was used without his knowledge – was bound for Weston airport, Leixlip, Co Kildare.
Insiders said the drugs were set to be passed on to major drug dealing gangs.
Det Chief Supt Boland said: “The use of light aircraft in transporting drugs across Europe is not something new and isn’t something Ireland has escaped.
“We’re well aware organised crime will use and corrupt any route or any opportunity to get controlled drugs into this country.
“We are determined to disrupt these importation routes and dismantle these groups.”
And speaking following the operation, the head of Organised and Serious Crime Assistant Commissioner Justin Kelly, said: “This operation has prevented a considerable quantity of dangerous drugs from making it on to our streets and causing significant harm to our communities.
“An Garda Siochana is committed, under Operation Tara, to disrupting and dismantling the organised
criminal networks who profit from drug trafficking and impact so negatively on our society.”
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