‘Expert’ crew flown in from Portugal by international drug gang to set up Dublin growhouse
A six-strong “expert” crew from Portugal was flown in by an international drug gang to set up and operate an industrial-scale cannabis growhouse in the middle of Dublin city.
The gang is headed by a major trafficker with links to the senior players in the Byrne organised crime group, the Irish arm of the Kinahan crime cartel.
The six Portuguese, which included a juvenile, were among nine people arrested in the operation, which involved swoops in Dublin and Co Wexford.
The investigation was led by the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, assisted by gardaí from the southeastern region.
Gardaí said that more than 800 cannabis plants, at various stages of growth, with an estimated value of €640,000 (analysis pending), were seized. The growhouse was located on two floors of a disused gym on Frederick Lane North, just off Parnell Square, in Dublin’s north inner city.
“A huge amount of work went into building this growhouse,” said a source.
There were at least five rooms containing plants at various stages of growth: an incubator room for baby plants; a second room for plants 6in to a foot in height, a third room with plants of 2ft; a fourth room with plants of 3ft to 5ft and a sixth ‘mother room’ with plants 7ft to 8ft high.
Sources said that there was a sophisticated ventilation system in place, with extractors in each room, sucking up the fumes, which were sent out through huge vents in the roof.
The walls, windows, and doors were sealed with plastic sheets, which had to be pulled off to allow gardaí conduct its examination.
Sources said that the Portuguese nationals were “experts” that were brought over by an international gang to set up and operate the facility.
“This was an industrial- scale operation,” said a source.
There’s a level of skill required to set this up and run it properly.
As is common with many growhouses, the Portuguese crew had illegally tapped into the electricity supply. An ESB team which accompanied the gardaí immediately shut down the meter in place, such was the danger it posed.
Gardaí suspect the plant was operating for a number of months and perhaps up to a year, with some rooms showing evidence of previous crops.
Sources said that the crops ran on a cycle of 12-14 weeks and that a gang could have around four crops in a year.
The plants are valued at €800 each, except for the baby plants in incubators which are not valued.
Gardaí said four people were arrested at the scene. Further searches were carried out in Co Wexford, where five further arrests were made.
A Garda statement said:
A total of nine people are currently detained at Garda Stations in Dublin and Wexford. Those arrested include six Portuguese nationals [all male], one UK national [male], and man and woman from Ireland.
"They range in age from 17 to 45 years. The investigation is ongoing.”
The two men arrested are suspected drug dealers, one a Dubliner, the other a Wexford man. Gardaí suspect the six Portuguese were living in Co Wexford. The 17-year-old Portuguese youth is expected to be referred to Tusla.
The Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau is hoping to make at least one further significant arrest, it is thought.
