Investigations are ongoing.
Detectives swooped on the vehicle in the Dolphin’s Barn area of Dublin 8 yesterday evening and discovered around 44kg of cocaine.
The major bust was made by members of the Crumlin Drugs Unit with a further 10kg of cannabis recovered in a follow up search in Tallaght.
Gardaí believe the man in custody was acting as a key drugs courier and is linked to a south Dublin crime group.
One source told the Sunday World: “This guy is suspected of making drops all over the city, but several kilos at a time to other criminals to redistribute the product rather than to users.
“He is a effectively a whole-sale courier, and the seizure is a significant result for the local drugs unit at Crumlin.”
The cocaine seized
Bystander footage captured the moment gardaí swooped on the suspect in the Dolphin’s Barn area.
A number of garda units surrounded a vehicle and blocked it off before the man was taken into custody for a search under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
A search of the vehicle led to around 44kg of suspected cocaine, with an estimated street value of €3m, being discovered.
The man has since been arrested under drug trafficking legislation and can be held for a total of seven days before he must either be charged or released pending a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
A still from the scene of the arrest
A Garda spokesperson said: “A follow-up search was conducted at a residence in Tallaght, Dublin 24 and a further 10kg of suspected cannabis, with an estimated value of €200,000, seized by Gardaí.
“The seized drugs are subject to analysis by Forensic Science Ireland.”
Investigations into the significant seizure are continuing with gardaí attempting to establish who the suspect is linked to.
One line of inquiry is that he is working for a criminal in the Dublin 12 area who is described as being “under the radar” but has been a target for separate local garda units.
The seizure was made as part of Operation Tara, a national anti-drugs strategy launched by gardaí in July 2021.
Gardaí say the focus of Operation Tara is to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug trafficking networks, at all levels – international, national, local – involved in the importation, distribution, cultivation, production, local sale and supply of controlled drugs.