GardaI and CAB officers during a raid on a house today

GardaI and CAB officers during a raid on a house today

THE Criminal Assets Bureau have carried out a series of early morning raids across two counties as part of a major probe into a Kinahan cartel associate.

Shortly before 6am this morning local and national garda units, backed up by heavily armed officers, raided 18 properties in Dublin and Kildare.

During the searches seven Rolex watches, two high-end SUVs, a GPS tracker and designer clothing were seized.

A 36-year-old man was also arrested on suspicion of money-laundering and is being held at Irishtown garda station.

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Documentation relating to the ownership of assets, financial documentation, mobile phones and electronic storage devices were seized and are currently being examined by CAB officers.

Gardai said that evidence of considerable expenditure on a number of homes in Dublin has also been obtained and will be analysed.

Sources told Independent.ie that the main target of the investigation was a 36-year-old Crumlin man who is a senior associate of the Kinahan cartel and suspected of involvement in international drug trafficking.

The convicted drug dealer also has strong links to Liverpool gangs and has been involved in organised crime since his teens.

This man’s Crumlin home along with other addresses in Walkinstown, as well as Kildare, were raided by members of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) and Armed Support Unit (ASU).

A garda spokesman said: “Today’s search operation is a significant development in the CAB investigation and will be seen as a major upset to the network used by this Organised Crime Gang to launder the proceeds of their drug dealing activities.”

The CAB were also assisted by organised crime gardai, detective and drug units from Crumlin and Sundrive Road garda stations and the Kildare garda region.

The Air Support Unit and Garda Dog Unit were also involved in the organisation targeting the international organised crime gang.

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