Seven Dublin city properties searched in dawn swoop
Seven properties in Dublin city centre were searched and one man was arrested as part of a dawn swoop by gardaí probing the activities of the Kinahan crime gang.
The huge garda operation began at around 7am yesterday when as many as 50 officers began searching seven premises as part of a targeted move against organised crime.
The operation was led by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) backed by the Special Crime Task Force (SCTF) and personnel within the Dublin Metropolitan Region North Central division.
Photographs of some of the items seized and issued by the Garda Press Office showed mobile phones, including some that were encrypted, as well as memory sticks and other devices.
A 24-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking following the seizure of a quantity of heroin.
He was held for questioning at the Bridewell Garda Station but was later released without charge. A file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Assistant Garda Commissioner, John O’Driscoll, head of the Special Crime Operations (SCO), said: “The searches undertaken this morning represent further evidence of An Garda Síochána’s unrelenting efforts to dismantle organised crime groups (OCGs) that are involved in drug trafficking and a wide range of other criminality and who are attempting to murder particular people”.
Meanwhile, gardaí have issued a vehicle security warning after a doubling in the rate of car break-ins in the southern region in a month.
Statistics released yesterday show that there were almost 170 ‘theft from vehicle’ incidents in counties Cork, Kerry and Limerick for the month of August — an increase of approximately 90 on the previous month.
Crime Prevention Officer Sgt John Kelly, who is based at Fermoy Garda Station in Co Cork, said people can take some very simple steps to minimise theft risk.
He advised members of the public to ensure that wherever their car or van is parked, to make sure it is locked, that it is alarmed and in a well-lit, secure location and that the keys are stored safely, away from windows and letterboxes.
“If you must leave property in your vehicle, keep it out of sight,” he said.
If you keep tools and equipment in your vehicle and it is not practical to store them indoors, consider additional locking mechanisms for your vehicle,” he advised.
Figures from the Garda Analysis Service in March showed that of the 8,571 vehicles which were broken into while parked at residential locations between 2015 and 2017, some 2,824, or almost a third, were reported to be unlocked.
The analysis showed that the most common location for these thefts was while the vehicles were parked in a driveway, and that half of all the thefts occurred between midnight and 7am.
Gardaí say on average, more than €340,000 worth of property was stolen from vehicles during each of those years.
Property stolen included cash, laptops, tools, sunglasses, jewellery and sports equipment.
