How convicted drug dealer David Waldron quietly led a luxury lifestyle for over two decades

Last week, a Dublin drug dealer’s two-decade career as a major player in Dublin organised crime was laid bare when the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) seized his luxury properties worth €3 million in Dublin, Wexford and Kildare.

David Waldron, who spent decades quietly developing his drug-dealing business while keeping out criminal feuds and the media, lost his legal battle against Cab last week.

Waldron and his wife, Charlene, enjoyed years of lavish overseas travel, opulent home refurbishments and expensive parties, while simultaneously receiving social welfare and, during the pandemic, the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment.

Their story extends beyond the drugs trade to feature luxury Celtic Tiger lending, a sex shop-owning ‘headshop czar’ and a funeral business called ‘Elegant Send-off.’

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Who is this quiet criminal, who avoided the headlines for more than two decades? And how did he safely rise through the ranks, while so many of his well-known associates were murdered?

Irish Times Crime and Security editor Conor Lally discusses Waldron’s 25-year run in the Dublin underworld on today’s episode of In the News.

Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Aideen Finnegan and Declan Conlon.