Two separate hauls of guns and drugs found in Finglas not linked to same gang

Gardai seized an AK-47 in a building at the back of a property in Finglas on Friday evening along with cannabis valued at €12,000.

The search operation was carried out by the District Drugs Unit in Finglas acting on intelligence with assistance from a number of local units.

The items are believed to be linked to a local drugs gang.

That seizure came just four days after gardai found three lethal weapons and drugs valued at €177,000 on waste ground in Finglas.

The guns — including a Scorpion machine pistol with magazine clip, ammunition and silencer, a SIG Sauer pistol with ammunition and a RAK 63 machine pistol and magazine clip — were discovered yesterday at vacant waste land in the area.

A source said there is no indication that the two hauls are linked to the same gang and while gardai are understood to be following a specific line of inquiry in relation to the AK-47 seizure, they are still trying to determine who had stored the three weapons on the Finglas waste ground.

“The two raids were not part of the same operation, which is nearly more worrying as it shows the access different groups have to weapons.

“Access to weapons like these was once tightly controlled by underworld elements but these seizures show how prevalent they are. We’re glad that these ones are off the streets now,” the source said.

Suspected cocaine with an estimated value of approximately €92,000 and suspected cannabis with an estimated value of approximately €85,000 was also found in the search carried out on the waste ground in Finglas on Monday.

“The search, conducted as part of Operation Thor by gardai from the Finglas Detective Unit supported by gardai from the K District Task Force and the Garda Dog Unit, occurred at approximately 3pm at vacant waste land in the Finglas area,” a spokesperson said.

A source said gardai were acting on intelligence when they searched the waste ground and had not stumbled across them by chance.

They seized a number of items at various locations within the waste land, including in a barrel which had been buried into the ground.

There were no arrests in relation to either of the two seizures this week and investigations are ongoing.

There has been a number of feuds in the Finglas and surrounding areas, including a bitter dispute between associates of the local gang boss known as Mr Flashy and associates of James ‘Whela’ Whelan, who was shot dead by Flashy’s mob in Finglas one year ago tomorrow.

There have been attempts on Mr Flashy’s life and that of one of his close associates since Whelan’s murder, including a gun attack outside a chipper in Finglas at the end of last year.

The AK-47 seized on Friday is the second assault rifle to be seized in Finglas in just over four months.

Gardai seized an assault rifle along with a machine pistol with silencer, ammunition and €210,000 worth of cocaine in a residential complex in Finglas in November.