A SEAN LOSER..

"I might be doing nothing but labour exploitation for six months, and then something else comes in, but the drugs trafficking element is a constant.

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When asked if there was much of an Irish criminal presence in Europe, she replied: "I would say yes, even on the lower scale."

She added: "We're constantly getting checks of somebody committing a crime in another country, even just on a once-off basis, or... money going to Irish accounts or activities of somebody in a country where they want to follow up on somebody.

"We obviously have links for Irish criminals in Spain and the Netherlands and places like that. We have links to other countries as well, like we have links to South America, not really the US.

"I'd say the main hotspot is Spain, really, and the UK. We have links to UK, obviously. I know that there are Irish people traveling in Europe and South America engaging in drug trafficking.

"We've ongoing cases in relation to Irish gangs and Irish individuals collaborating with persons in other countries in Europe to move drugs, to move weapons. It's a lucrative business."

One of the gangs active in Europe is The Family, an outfit based in west Dublin that has become Ireland's biggest drugs gang.

It is now the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau's main target and makes at least €10million a month from selling cocaine, heroin and cannabis on the streets of Dublin.