More than 20 in court charged in connection with drug-dealing raids
More than 20 people have so far appeared in court charged with drug dealing offences as part of a major crackdown street dealers in Dublin's north inner city.
Operation Tempest was set up six months ago after residents raised concerns with community gardaí.
A long line of men and women arrested as part of the operation waited on the wall outside courtroom 4 at the Criminal Courts of Justice this morning.
The undercover operation was conceived in January after gardaí asked those living in the north inner city what their main concerns were.
Chief Superintendent Pat Leahy said the scourge of drug dealing in their areas kept coming up.
"Very early on, it became apparent to us that of the top three issues..drug-dealing came out as one of them," he said.
Following six months of undercover police work, a blitz of raids and arrests took place earlier this week.
All of those charged appeared on bail before Dublin District Court this morning.
They are all accused of selling small quantities of heroin, cannabis, cocaine and tablets to undercover officers.
All bar one are due back in court on October 2 when they will be asked to enter a plea or seek a trial date.
One woman accused of selling drugs on five separate occasions will not be back until the following week because the court heard she is travelling to Lanzarote on her holidays.
