A white Volvo jeep which remained parked outside a luxury home in Co Donegal sparked the Criminal Assets Bureau probe into a suspected major drug dealer.
CAB swooped on the house this week as part of their investigation into the suspect who is in his 30s.
The man now lives in Dubai with his family and is suspected of having links with the Kinahan crime cartel.
Gardai had the man on their radar but were able to locate his luxury €1 million home in Donegal after they received information about a car being parked at the house for months on end.
Officers raided the house this week, seized more than €73,000 as well as the Volvo jeep, documents as well as electronic devices.
A source said “CAB rely on people coming forward with information. In this case information was received that a luxury jeep was sitting outside a huge home for months on end and that didn’t make sense.
“The house was identified and linked to this person and they are now part of a major investigation by the Criminal Assets Bureau.
“Sometimes people cannot help but display their wealth but in this case it has come back to haunt this suspect.
“He might live out of the country but CAB are now hot on his heels and are digging away to see where every cent of his cash has come from.”
CAB carried out 23 searches in Dublin and Donegal as part of a major investigation into an international drug trafficking gang.
The CAB investigation into the activities of the Donegal drug dealer has been going on for over a year.
Divisional Asset Profilers in Donegal also began working on the case, building up a profile of the man who owned the house.
As well as supplying cocaine in Ireland, the organised crime gang also has connections and trafficked drugs in Scotland and Spain and has now become a target of international law enforcement agencies.
It operates a different drug trafficking and money laundering network from that of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group, whose leaders are also based in Dubai.
Over 70 officers from the Criminal Assets Bureau, along with gardaí attached to the Milford District, the Donegal Division, the Regional Armed Support Unit, Garda Dog Unit and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau began a series of searches in Dublin and Donegal at 6am.
CAB brought a quantity surveyor with them to assess the value of the house in Donegal and the quantity and value of the materials put into it.
The house of an associate in Dublin was also searched along with financial and legal offices, solicitors and accountants and service providers such as builders’ yards.
A large amount of financial documentation was seized along with electronic devices, mobile phones and laptops which will be forensically examined as part of the CAB assets inquiry.
CAB estimates it has so far identified over €1 million worth of assets linked to the drug dealer and his family.
A Garda spokesperson said “Today’s searches relate to an ongoing investigation into the assets of persons suspected of being involved in drug trafficking on an international level.
“The search operation was conducted as part of an ongoing proceeds of crime investigation targeting assets, including real estate, deriving in whole or in part from the proceeds of criminal activity.”
Gardaí also say criminals have been increasingly trying to launder money through homes and CAB is identifying and targeting more property as the proceeds of crime.
