Updated: 17.30
OVER €300,000 in cash was discovered stuffed into two bags at a house outside the capital as gardaí continue their investigations into a massive seizure of loaded guns.
Armed officers searched at a home near the Dublin border where they discovered the huge sum hidden in the house which belongs to the partner of one of the arrested men.
Gardaí said four men remain in custody today following the seizure at the Greenogue industrial park in Rathcoole, west Dublin.
Three men in their 40s and 50s were arrested yesterday morning at Greenogue Industrial estate in Baldonnel, while a fourth man in his late 30s was arrested yesterday evening elsewhere in Dublin.
Gardaí managed to recover a total of 15 guns, including a number of revolvers and semi-automatic weapons.
A sub-machine gun and an assault rifle were also seized.
Officers also recovered 1300 rounds of assorted ammunition, the cash and documents related to bank accounts during their searches.
It is believed that upwards of €500,000 may have been seized. This is a combination of cash seizures and reported
The four men are all being detained at garda stations in west Dublin under Section 30 of Offences Against the State Act 1939.
Addressing reporters yesterday, Detective Superintendent Tony Howard of the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB) praised the work of officers and said the seizure was “testament to all the work done behind the scenes”.
Howard said that many of the guns which were seized were loaded at the time and that officers had stopped an “imminent attack” from occurring. He said that “without a doubt, lives were saved”.
Howard would not confirm that the guns belonged to the Kinahan cartel but said it is one avenue of investigation.
In the past week, a number of high-ranking members of the Kinahan cartel have arrived back in Ireland. Two were spotted in an Italian restaurant while one was observed by gardaí on Dawson Street.
“There are very few groups which have ability to amass this amount of firearms, and not just the amount, this type of calibre also,” Howard added.
With reporting from Garreth MacNamee.
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