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INVESTIGATES are investigating whether the Kinahan Cartel organized the shipment of € 9.8 million worth of cocaine, heroin and cannabis sniffed by Customs Springer Spaniel Robbie to Dublin Port.
The Irish Sun can reveal that Revenue and the Garda National Drugs and Organized Crime Bureau believe that only a small number of transnational gangs based in Ireland had the “capacity and logistical support†to organize a smuggling operation of this magnitude.
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Among those in the frame are the mob of Daniel Kinahan, the “Family” led by Brian Grendon, the gang led by “Mr Big”, a gang operating in Cork and border gangs involved in serious crime.
The shipment – which came from the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands – included 4.3 million euros of cocaine, 3 million euros of heroin and 1.5 million euros of herbal cannabis.
Approximately € 800,000 of cannabis resin and € 60,000 of ketamine were also seized by Revenue in a container.
The drugs were hidden in stools inside a container shipped to the capital.
They were discovered after tax officials used their mobile x-ray scanner and sniffer dog Robbie.
Following the discovery, investigators rushed to a warehouse in Rathcoole, west Dublin, and discovered € 600,000 worth of rolling tobacco.
Although no arrests have been made, the hunt is now on to find the gang that organized the expedition.
It is not clear whether the drugs were intended for the Irish market or the UK.
As part of their efforts to identify the crowd, Revenue and Gardai will work closely with their colleagues at Europol as well as the Dutch police.
An investigator from the Netherlands told us how the Kinahan Cartel was in every big shipment that comes from the Netherlands to Ireland due to their strong association with the region.
They said: “The Kinahan Cartel has a long association with the Netherlands and continues to have many associates in this country.
“We were obviously concerned that the Kinahan and Hutch feud would lead to violence in Holland, but we are also aware of their role in drug trafficking in Europe.
“If huge amounts of drugs are sent to Ireland from the Netherlands as part of well-organized smuggling operations, the Kinahan Cartel, along with other gangs, will obviously figure. “
INTERNATIONAL PROBE
Mick Gilligan, head of customs drug enforcement, called Wednesday’s seizure “significant.”
He said: “There are only a small number of organized crime groups in Ireland that would have the logistical capacity to organize such a shipment.
“This is important because of the volume and variety of drugs in a single shipment.
“We are trying to identify groups that may be behind the organization of similar shipments containing a variety of drugs.
“I think this seizure also illustrates how drug trafficking can be used to finance other forms of crime such as contraband tobacco.”
Dutch investigators will also seek to establish who organized the expedition and whether a bogus company was formed to facilitate it.
They will also seek to establish whether drug gangs from Colombia, Bolivia and Peru have been involved in smuggling cocaine to the Netherlands.
The huge seizure comes after the EU’s serious organized crime threat assessment revealed that “significant amounts” of cocaine were being transported to Europe by South American criminal gangs who used expatriates from their country. own country to arrange shipments.
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