COCAINE worth €15.2m has been seized in Ireland as part of an international investigation which saw a criminal messaging network dismantled.
Gardaí, working with Europol and Eurojust, have successfully dismantled the encrypted communication platform known as Ghost.
The network, which was established to allow organised crime networks to operate on a global scale, was used to facilitate large-scale drug trafficking, money laundering, instances of extreme violence and other forms of serious and organised crime.
An Garda Síochána’s National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau has been investigating four identified organised crime groups and support networks based in the Dublin and eastern region.
In a day of action on Monday, September 16, the police force searched 27 premises and seized cocaine worth €15.2m and 42 suspected encrypted devices.
They also intercepted an articulated truck in the south-east of the country, where they found 100kg of cocaine, worth €7m, in a deep concealment.
“An Garda Síochána’s involvement in this Europol Operational Task Force demonstrates Ireland’s ongoing commitment and capacity to operate at an international level targeting Transnational Organised Crime Groups which cause so much harm and misery not just in Ireland but in countries across the world,” Garda Assistant Commissioner Organised and Serious Crime, Justin Kelly, said.
“Transnational Organised Crime Group networks know no boundaries and do not respect any international borders or rules of law,” he added.
“It takes a network to defeat a network and today’s announcement is clear indication of the power of Law Enforcement networks in degrading and dismantling the activities of these criminal networks.”
Five men, aged in their 30s, 40s and 50s, have been arrested in relation to the garda operation.