[1] 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.
[4] Detective Chief Superintendent Seamus Boland is the current head of the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.
The merger was announced by Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan during tough budgetary times in an effort to create a more effective and proactive drugs "super unit".
Previous seizures by Gardaí, the Irish Naval Service and the Revenue Commissioners Customs have come close to topping €1 billion, with one individual seizure of cocaine off the Irish coast in 2008 estimated to be worth €750 million.
[11] Detectives and undercover Gardaí attached to the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau carry semi-automatic 9mm SIG Sauer P226, Walther P99 and concealable 99c pistols due to the dangerous nature of their work.