He said Spanish police in particular are stretched thin and have lost many officers to the virus, which causes the disease Covid-19. “But they’re doing a great job. They’re going out on ships where a) the guys might be armed and b) they might have coronavirus,” he said.
“Criminals see this as an opportunity to flood the market, to increase the loads crossing because they know the police everywhere have got to be stretched to the limit.
“That’s the way organised crime works. They hope that you are firefighting somewhere else and that they can sneak in under the radar, they’d never see us. We can’t afford to take our foot off the pedal.”
In Ireland, gardaí have stepped up operations targeting organised crime in recent weeks to pre-empt attempts to take advantage of the health crisis to move drugs or carry out attacks on rivals.
Gardaí have made several significant seizures in the past week. Last Thursday, a Garda Special Crime Taskforce and the Armed Support Unit raided a premises in Bluebell and seized heroin worth about €300,000. Two men were arrested.
Cont'd:
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/coronavirus-gangs-take-advantage-to-import-large-amounts-of-drugs-1.4219916 