Heroin find suspect in jail in North

Paul Neilan

The 'major player' behind last week’s multi-million Euro heroin haul near Virginia is in prison in the North - and is a chief suspect behind the murder of gangland kingpin and Real IRA boss Alan Ryan.

Sources in Dublin confirmed to The Anglo-Celt that the man is a 'prominent suspect' and is also involved in so-called ‘tiger kidnappings’ in the South. It’s believed that a member of the public alerted gardaí to the eight-kilo haul of 'high-purity, uncut' heroin and one kilo of cocaine.

'That could now be worth anything up to €3-4 million with the shortage of heroin in the country,' a source said.

Originally, gardaí believed they had uncovered €750,000 of the drug in its uncut form but then upgraded that to €1.27 million, before using sniffer dogs to complete their sweep.

It is thought the stash, discovered by Bailieborough district gardaí at a derelict farmhouse in Garryross, could have been there for weeks; along with an old, but working Uzi sub-machine gun and a small amount of bullets, which could have been there for months.

The discovery was made on Monday night (April 15) but subsequent searches of the site yielded far more than expected. The discovery 'is the property of a major city player - this has cost them millions', another source said.

'These are big players, you’re talking hundreds of thousands to get this together and on the street god knows what it could be worth, millions - it’s a huge find, because the average dealer might cut it with glucose, or whatever, and the next might do the same, it becomes lesser quality each time and more dangerous,' added the source. The drugs have been taken to Dublin for analysis, as have the gun and bullets.

Real IRA boss Ryan was shot dead in north Dublin last September after extortion attempts on other city criminals.

Drug gangs favour derelict houses and remote locations to hide large shipments for weeks, before being cut and prepared for street-sale, which increases the value of the initial outlay sometimes four-fold.

East county Cavan has been a particularly popular area for drug bosses with a combination of the new M3 and remote sites making both transfer to Dublin and local storage easier for dealers.

The man is in custody in Maghaberry Prison on another matter and it is hoped that he will be extradited to the South. 'This is a high-profile discovery of drugs and a weapon - you’re dealing with dangerous people. It will be prioritised but investigations are at their earliest stage,' the source added.