A SECRET intelligence file detailing allegations of garda collusion in drug trafficking is to be released to the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC).

The file, uncovered by an internal garda inquiry, outlines how a couple from Co Louth told gardai that their lives were threatened after they tipped off officers about a drugs haul organised by Kieran Boylan, a criminal whose relationship with the force is the subject of an inquiry by the GSOC.

Senior gardai had previously discounted the couple’s claims as bogus but the recently discovered intelligence file is said to prove gardai were indeed notified about the allegations in July 2006, two years before they launched an internal inquiry.

The GSOC and Garda Headquarters are both investigating whether officers colluded with Boylan and turned a blind eye to his activities in return for information.

In July, charges against him for importing heroin and cocaine worth €1.7m, seized at a truckers yard in Ardee, Co Louth, in October 2005, were dropped after he threatened to reveal details of his relationship with the force.

The momentum behind the GSOC inquiry into Boylan has changed with the discovery of the file, which is said to show that gardai did not carry out a full investigation into the allegations.

The couple said they found 14 kilos of drugs, possibly heroin or cocaine, wrapped in brown industrial tape, in Boylan’s yard in July 2004 and had tipped off gardai. They alleged they were threatened a week later by Boylan, who appeared to know they had contacted named gardai from Dublin. The detectives who were informed of the drugs’ whereabouts did not search the premises.

The incident, one of several similar allegations, was reported to gardai in Co Louth after details of Boylan’s activities were reported in the media.

It appears the couple were told to step up their personal security but the allegations were not fully investigated by officers at the time.

The commission is understood to suspect that Boylan was “permitted” to import huge quantities of drugs which he supplied to low-level dealers, who were arrested, while he continued to wholesale drugs to criminal gangs.

Several detectives under investigation have admitted that Boylan worked as an informer, although they say he was not registered as a “source” with garda headquarters. It is understood the DPP was advised that Boylan believed he was working for gardai at the time of his arrest.

Official documents, obtained by The Sunday Times, show the Department of Justice is continuing to monitor the case.

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