Suspected dealer fuming over Dublin property up for knockdown price after ‘pumping money into house’ as new snaps emerge
SUSPECTED drug dealer Christopher ‘Git’ Waldron has been left furious after his home was put up for auction at a knockdown price.
Although Waldron’s home in Killala Road, Cabra, north Dublin was previously valued at €431,214, it will go under the hammer for €275,000 - one of the cheapest in the capital.
Ahead of the auction next week, the three-bedroom property, which includes an attic conversion, has been described as being “presented to a high standard”.
But potential buyers have also been warned of a “possible planning issue” at the house.
This relates to the huge extension that Waldron - a close associate of slain gangster Eamon ‘The Don’ Dunne - built at the rear.
A description of the property reads: “Finished to a high standard internally, the property is sure to appeal to a range of buyers and investors alike.”
Externally, the home benefits from off-street parking to the front and a paved rear garden, where Waldron once kept a large hot tub.
Our exclusive image shows Waldron enjoying a jacuzzi while his associates swamped Dublin with batches of heroin and cocaine.
Waldron built the extension during his involvement in organised crime over years.
But his failure to prove the property was purchased through “legitimate” means came back to haunt him when it was seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau under the proceeds of crime legislation.
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Moaned about losing home
Although Waldron left the property when it was seized by CAB last November, he has remained in the capital.
During his time away from the home he has been stopped by Gardai on numerous occasions due to his links to crime gangs in north Dublin.
On two occasions he was stopped by Gardai, he has moaned about losing his home.
One source told us: “Waldron isn’t happy at all that he’s lost the house - it was his pride and joy.
“He pumped a lot of money into the house and there have been a few times when he has moaned about it to the gardai.
“The extension on the house is massive and this was his way of showing off to his friends.”
Waldron’s house also went to auction in the same week as CAB seized three properties and assets worth over €3m by his brother David.
They are the pad known as Darview in Co Wexford, a pad in Glenties Park in Finglas and a home in River Forest, Leixlip in Co Kildare.
The 3,000 sq ft mansion in Wexford had its own bar, a pool table, a gym, and views looking out over valleys in the Wexford countryside.
The properties were seized after the High Court accepted CAB’s assertion today that David Waldron was a “major player” in the drug trafficking trade in Dublin.
'Legitimate means'
As part of their case, CAB established that David Waldron had spent €315,000 renovations on the home in Leixlip.
The court also ruled Waldron deceived mortgage lenders because he couldn’t make payments from “legitimate means”.
In their submissions to the High Court, CAB investigators also said: "Garda intelligence is that David Waldron and his brother Christoper Waldron took over a leading role in sourcing and supplying drugs in the Cabra area of Dublin after the murder of Eamon Dunne in April 2010."
CAB also outlined how David Waldron had been associated with Darren Kearns and Daithi Douglas, who were both shot dead by the Kinahan cartel.
Life of crime
Investigators from CAB will now place the properties on the market later this year.
During the height of ‘Git’ Waldron’s criminality, he was classified by Gardai as a “hands off” criminal.
Instead, they suspected he paid young men to store and distribute large consignments of drugs.
One of his associates was James Whelan who was shot dead in a feud in Finglas.
CAB vow
He was also a close associate of senior Kinahan cartel member Gary Finnegan before the Kinahan and Hutch feud.
Although CAB targeted his home, he also lost seven designer watches worth €72,900 and €4,605 in cash.
Images released by CAB showed the fancy watches seized from Waldron during searches on his home last year.
CAB’S Chief Bureau officer, Det Chief Supt Michael Gubbins, vowed to continue to strip Ireland’s criminals of their wealth in 2024.
The senior officer said: “The wealth that criminals display is like their uniform but no one is untouchable. We are seeing more cases of those engaged in criminality displaying their wealth on social media platforms and this is something we continue to monitor.
“We will identify targets countrywide and continue to maximise the impact the Bureau makes at a community level, particularly on those criminal groupings and individuals causing distress in local communities.”
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Last year, CAB sold 12 properties worth €2.7million and with 12due to be sold this year.
Of the 1,448 people under investigation by CAB, 289 are based in Gardai Dublin Metropolitan Region West, which is at the centre of a deadly feud between two rival factions.