Notorious Limerick criminal Vincent Collopy due in court over major drugs seizure

Collopy was one of five men arrested following a series of raids in the counties.

At approximately 2.15pm on Friday, gardaí stopped a vehicle on the Corbally Road in Co. Clare.

During a search of the vehicle, officers located approximately €10,000 worth of suspected cocaine.

The drugs were seized and will be sent for analysis.

The occupants of the vehicle, three men aged in their 20s and 40s, were arrested at the scene and taken to Henry Street Garda Station where they were detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996.

Two of these men were since been released from custody pending files to the DPP.

A number of follow-up searches were conducted in Limerick yesterday evening.

During the course of these searches, cocaine valued at €406,000, heroin valued at €140,000, amphetamine valued at €45,000, Diazepam tablets valued at €42,852 and a large sum of cash was seized.

The exact values of the seized items are to be confirmed pending examination.

A further two persons were arrested over the course of the evening.

A male, aged in his 50s, and a female, aged in her 30s, were detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996, in Henry Street Garda Station.

In a statement issued earlier today gardai said in a follow up search today, cocaine was seized with an estimated street value of €779,450 subject to analysis.

In 2016, Collopy, who was extradited back to Ireland from Bulgaria, was jailed for five years, with two suspended, for intimidating and threatening to kill state witness Willie Moran over money owed from the sale of a horse.

Vincent Collopy, who turns 43 in September, also has a number of previous convictions including two for threats to kill and a conviction for drug dealing.

His brothers Kieran and Brian Collopy are regarded as the ‘kingpins’ of the Collopy gang in Limerick and were aligned to the Keane faction based in their stronghold of St Mary's and St Ita's Park on 'The Island'.

Anther brother Philip was a notorious gangland enforcer in the city until he accidentally shot himself in the head while showing off a gun in 2009.