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Two men and a woman drive to a Covid-19 checkpoint in Phibsboro, Dublin at 4.30 a.m. yesterday. They are all from the north Dublin city center and the car is 16 years old, ‘a banger’.
In the midst of a pandemic, where house parties are against the law, one of the men is sitting in the back with a stack of pizza boxes on his lap.
Therefore, it may not be surprising that Gardaí is suspicious and tries to stop the car, but he drives through the checkpoint at high speed.
He doesn’t stop until he’s forced to, and then he just crashes on Essex Quay in central Dublin.
One of the car’s three occupants jumps and throws a package into the Liffey River, which, when later retrieved by the Garda submarine unit, contains two semi-automatic pistols.
The contents of the pizza boxes are still being tested, but the suspicion, for the moment, is that they could have contained cocaine worth up to 500,000 euros.
Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on thousands of legitimate businesses across the country, but illegitimate businesses such as arms trafficking, drug trafficking, and gang killings have also been affected.
Operation Fanacht has put more than 650 checkpoints and 2,500 high-visibility gardaí on the street and disrupted the lives not only of law-abiding citizens, but also of those who ignore the law, and in particular those involved in the organized crime.
In 144 cases over the Easter holiday weekend, checkpoints resulted in the detection of other crimes, such as drugs, trafficking, assault, and public order crimes. The police operation is forcing drug traffickers, gunmen and criminals to be more creative and there is some evidence that they are trying.
Gardai says the attempt by three low-level criminals to move weapons and drugs into pizza boxes is indicative of a pattern they have identified where gangs are trying to move products under the guise of food deliveries.
“If they stop, they need an excuse,” said a senior Garda official, “and while one or two pizzas may not have raised suspicion, a stack of seven is a different matter.”
Street vendors use cars, mopeds, and bicycles while pretending to deliver takeout.
Some dealers are trying to use well-known online taxi and food delivery companies without the knowledge of these legitimate companies as cover. A man was arrested yesterday in a taxi at a Covid-19 checkpoint in the Naul area of Co Dublin.
“The police operation is forcing drug traffickers, gunmen, and criminals to be more creative, and there is some evidence that they are trying.”
Unknown to the taxi driver, his passenger carried cannabis worth 20,000 euros.
Street vendors are also using other forms of public transportation to get around, and Gardaí is boarding buses, trains, and Luas, not just to ensure social distancing is being watched, but to see if there are any known criminals on board.
These are the people the Garda are most likely to stop and search. A small criminal took € 250 from him after being arrested on the street in Ballymun this morning.
With more than 80% of the population locked up, it becomes increasingly difficult for the working criminal to move and remain discreet.
Certain types of crime like theft and robbery have decreased significantly. It is difficult to enter a house when the residents are at home all the time. It is impossible to collect pockets when nobody is on the street, especially in the main shopping areas.
Gardaí says that street-level drug dealers are now actively looking for new ways to move their drugs. Rather than risk taking it themselves and getting caught, they seek to use people who can legitimately move and who are less likely to be stopped by the Gardai.
The focus of the drug leaders is both carrot and stick: it offers an incentive for those who might be lured and use threats and violence against those who can be coerced.
There is some evidence that distributors are reaching out to people who hold letters from their employers and essential service workers, such as binmen and retail workers, and offer them money to move their products.
They also contact clients who owe them money and force them to carry drugs and weapons to help them pay off their debts. Gardaí is still trying to determine who was behind the drugs and weapons in the pizza boxes, as it is considered a great stash for the three people who were caught with him.
At the top level, organized crime gangs are also working to find new ways to smuggle their multi-million dollar drug shipments across international borders.
The coronavirus outbreak has closed transportation routes worldwide. In many cases, traditional routes through ports and airports are no longer an option. Immigration and customs officials are on alert. Couriers are more likely to search your bags.
Drug trafficking gangs often hide their shipments on cars and engine parts, construction supplies, and household products, but due to the global recession, these are no longer shipping and demand has dried up.
Heroin and cocaine cannot be smuggled into Ireland into tiles or other similar products from Spain or the Netherlands if people no longer buy these products to decorate their patios and bathrooms.
Gardaí says that crime bosses are now trying to hide their shipments in food shipments that are currently the main focus of international trade.
However, the economic downturn has severely limited their ability to do business.
Therefore, the problem for organized crime both on the street and at the top level is supply, not demand. The market is still there; People addicted to drugs like methamphetamine and heroin still crave them, part-time users and professionals who smoke some cannabis or inhale cocaine would still buy drugs if they could get them.
For many, it would ease the boredom of confinement.
The problem for drug gangs and smugglers is how to get their product to market, how to get drugs to users, particularly with the country, as one smuggler put it, “now full of police.”
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