The Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB or GNDOCB) is a specialist national unit within the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

's national police service, responsible for proactively targeting and investigating

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...

and serious

organised crime Organized crime is a category of transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a form of illegal business, some ...

both within Ireland and outside the jurisdiction. The Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau has a complement of 111 Detective Gardaí and a total staff of up to 400 officers, all of whom are armed. The bureau is based at

Dublin Castle Dublin Castle () is a major Government of Ireland, Irish government complex, conference centre, and tourist attraction. It is located off Dame Street in central Dublin. It is a former motte-and-bailey castle and was chosen for its position at ...

Dublin 2 Dublin 2, also rendered as D2 and D02, is a historic List of Dublin postal districts, postal district on the Southside, Dublin, southside of Dublin, Ireland. In the 1960s, this central district became a focus for office development. More recentl ...

and also has offices at the Garda Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) Headquarters at Harcourt Street, Dublin City. It is headed by a

Detective Chief Superintendent Chief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces, especially in those organised on the United Kingdom, British model. Rank insignia of chief superintendent File:Sa-police-chief-superintendent.png, South Australia Police File:RCMP Chief S ...

and four Detective Superintendents, reporting to the Assistant Commissioner in charge of the ''Garda National Support Services''. Detective Chief Superintendent Seamus Boland is the current head of the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

History

The Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau was formed in February 2015 with the amalgamation of the Garda National Drugs Unit (GNDU) and Garda Organised Crime Unit (OCU) as part of the

Irish government The Government of Ireland () is the executive authority of Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet – is composed of ministers, each of whom must be a member of the , which consists of ...

's
National Drugs Strategy 2009-2016
'. The National Drugs Unit had been operating since its creation in 1995, often working in tandem with the newer Organised Crime Unit, which was set up on a pilot basis in 2005 and became an established entity in 2008. The merger was announced by

Garda Commissioner The Garda Commissioner () – officially known as the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána () – is the head of the Garda Síochána, the national police force of Ireland. The Garda Commissioner is appointed by the Government of Ireland (Cabine ...

Nóirín O'Sullivan Nóirín O'Sullivan (born 3 November 1960) is an Irish Garda Síochána, Garda who has served as Director of Strategic Partnerships for Europe at the International Association of Chiefs of Police since October 2017. She previously served as Garda ...

during tough budgetary times in an effort to create a more effective and proactive drugs "super unit". Organised and serious crime is also the responsibility of the larger Garda

National Bureau of Criminal Investigation The Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI) () - formerly known as the Central Detective Unit (CDU) () - is the main national criminal investigative branch of the ''Garda Síochána'', the national police force of Ireland. The ...

(NBCI), and the new bureau works closely with the

Garda National Immigration Bureau The Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB; Irish: ''Biúró Náisiúnta an Gharda Síochána um Inimirce'') is a unit of the Garda Síochána, the police force of Ireland. It was formed in May 2000, and is responsible for the enforcement of immi ...

(GNIB) and other law enforcement agencies on the international front. Ireland has become a gateway to the European market for international drug smuggling gangs, as well as the domestic market, which has seen disputes spill over into targeted

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

s on the streets of Irish cities. Previous seizures by Gardaí, the

Irish Naval Service The Naval Service () is the maritime component of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and is one of the three branches of the Irish Defence Forces. Its base is in Haulbowline, County Cork. Though prece ...

and the

Revenue Commissioners The Revenue Commissioners (), commonly called Revenue, is the Irish Government agency responsible for customs, excise, taxation and related matters. Though Revenue can trace itself back to predecessors (with the Act of Union 1800 amalgamating ...

Customs have come close to topping €1 billion, with one individual seizure of

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

off the Irish coast in 2008 estimated to be worth €750 million. From 2009 to 2014 there have been over 700 arrests of drug dealers who were infiltrated by undercover Gardaí. There have been cases which involved members of the undercover drug unit who were so convincing posing as drug addicts that they were arrested by other undercover Gardaí who did not actually believe they were part of the undercover unit.

Weapons

Detectives and undercover Gardaí attached to the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau carry semi-automatic 9mm

SIG Sauer P226 The SIG Sauer P226 is a full-sized service pistol made by SIG Sauer. This model is available in four chamberings: the 9×19mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, .357 SIG, or .22 Long Rifle. It has the same mechanism of operation as the SIG Sauer P220, but ...

Walther P99 The Walther P99 () is a semi-automatic pistol developed by the German company Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen of Ulm for law enforcement, security forces and the civilian shooting market. History Design work on this new generation sidearm began ...

and concealable 99c pistols due to the dangerous nature of their work.

Mandate

The main focus of the bureau is on; * dismantling organised drug networks involved in the large scale importation and distribution of

controlled substance A controlled substance is generally a drug or chemical whose manufacture, possession and use is regulated by a government, such as illicitly used drugs or prescription medications that are designated by law. Some treaties, notably the Sing ...

s * intelligence-led

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

and

undercover operation A covert operation or undercover operation is a military or police operation involving a covert agent or troops acting under an assumed cover to conceal the identity of the party responsible. US law Under US law, the Central Intelligence Ag ...

s against organised criminal groups * criminality that transcends garda divisional boundaries, including; armed robberies, hijacking of valuable loads and commodities, warehouse burglaries, "

tiger kidnapping A tiger kidnapping or tiger robbery involves two separate crimes. The first crime usually involves an abduction of a valuable person or thing. Instead of demanding money, the captors demand that a second crime be committed on their behalf. The s ...

s",

cash-in-transit Cash-in-transit (CIT) or cash/valuables-in-transit (CVIT) is the physical transfer of banknotes, coins, credit cards and items of value from one location to another. The locations include cash centers and bank branches, ATM points, bureaux de c ...

robberies and

bank robberies Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank Branch (banking), branch or Bank teller, tel ...

with the use of

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

References

External links

Garda Síochána official website
{{authority control Garda Síochána units Government agencies of the Republic of Ireland Law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Ireland Organized crime in Ireland

History

Weapons

Mandate

See also

References

External links