Three men arrested and almost €1.3m in cash seized in south Dublin

By Grainne Ni Aodha, PA

Three men have been arrested and €1.2 million in cash seized as part of an investigation into an organised crime group.

Gardaí stopped and searched a car in the Donnybrook area on Thursday.

During the search, they found €197,760 in cash and a man aged in his 50s was arrested.

In a follow-up operation on the same day, two other men, one aged in his 30s and one his 40s, were arrested.

During searches of a number of properties in south Dublin, gardaí seized an additional €1,086,175 in cash.

The total amount of cash seized was €1,283,935.

The three arrested men are expected to appear before the Criminal Courts of Justice on Saturday.

The arrests were made in connection with an operation targeting an organised crime group involved in the sale and supply of drugs and money laundering in the Dublin area.

Assistant Commissioner Cliona Richardson said: “This significant seizure of cash will impact the ability of those involved to cause harm in our communities.

“It not only removes ill-gotten gains from the hands of criminals, but also deprives them of money they would have used to fund further criminal activities.

“The DCRT (Dublin Crime Response Team) is committed to keeping our communities safe by continuing to target the proceeds of criminal conduct, with a view to seizing assets and initiating prosecutions in relation to persons engaged in money laundering and associated criminal activity.”