Updated at 18:01
Gardaí have arrested a man in his 40s following a drugs seizure this morning at Dublin's Mountjoy Prison.
They assisted the Irish Prison Service upon the discovery of cocaine with an estimated value of €140,000, tablets believed to be worth up to €20,000 and €5,000 in suspected cannabis herb.
A small quantity of steroids and alcohol along with 30 mobiles phones and accompanying sim cards were also seized.
Gardaí say they are continuing to liaise with the Irish Prison Service and further analysis of the items seized will be carried out.
The arrested man was taken to Mountjoy Garda Station where he remains detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984. Investigations are ongoing.
It comes as earlier today, the Irish prison service made one of the largest finds of prison contraband ever, including mobile phones and drugs, as it was being smuggled into Mountjoy Prison in Dublin.
Kinahan links
As the Irish Times reported, sources familiar with the gang situation in the prison said it was strongly suspected the delivery, which included more than 20 phones and two bags of suspected cocaine, was intended for inmates linked to the Kinahan cartel.
It is understood some phones had been marked with the initials or nicknames of prisoners and prison staff and Gardaí were studying those names to determine who they were for.
Security sources said many of the usual smuggling methods in Irish jails had been curtailed because of restrictions introduced due to Covid-19.
“It looks like with the supply (of drugs and phones) having dried up a lot because of Covid-19, they were looking to get a big consignment into the jail all in one go and maybe taking the kind of risk they wouldn’t normally take,” a source said.
Initial indications are that prison authorities received intelligence the contraband was being smuggled within the normal delivery systems that supply all aspects of the prison with the goods it needs to operate, including laundry, food, drink and other supplies.
Vials of drugs
Members of Mountjoy’s operational support group - a team dedicated to preventing smuggling of phones, drugs and weapons - searched a delivery of goods and found the contraband on a pallet.
A large number of mobile phones, believed to be more than 20, were discovered along with a large number of spare SIM cards.
Two bags of white powder were also found and security sources said while it was believed to be cocaine, testing was required before that could be confirmed.
Vials of drugs believed to steroids were found along with about 800 grams of herbal cannabis, worth approximately €16,000 on the street but significantly more in a prison setting, was also found.
A number of boxes containing about 10,000 pills were also discovered and these were set to undergo testing to determine what they are.
