THE LESSONS OF URLINGFORD - The Irish Times - Wed, Mar 13, 1996

THE LESSONS OF URLINGFORD - The Irish Times - Wed, Mar 13, 1996: "When the Garda seized the £130 million worth of cannabis last November they were not slow to trumpet the operation. The public was told that the seizure' was the largest in the history of the State. The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, suggested that the joint Garda/Customs/Naval Service operation underlined the smooth level of cooperation between those at the sharp end of the drugs war. The reality, however, was rather different: as investigations by the Drugs and Crime Correspondent of this newspaper, revealed, the `seizure' was a `sting' operation which went badly wrong. The major drugs dealers who were expected to pick up the cargo never surfaced. There, were no follow up charges. There have been no convictions. And the operation was undermined by the longstanding territorial feud between the Garda and Customs, with allegations that vital information had been leaked at a very sensitive moment in the investigation"?THE GREY HAIRED MEN?