Two major drug hauls have taken place across the country.
One discovery worth €8.4million was made yesterday evening just after 6pm by Gardaí who’d stopped two vehicles at separate locations in the Lough Owel area of County Westmeath.
120kilograms of suspected cocaine was found with several communications devices while follow-up searches were conducted at properties in Naas, Co Kildare, and Waterford City and an aircraft seized in Longford where it’s thought the drugs had been flown in on a private plane.
Two men, aged 54 and 40 years, were arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking and are currently being detained, at Ashbourne Garda Station in Co Meath.
Gardaí say the seizure was made, is as a result of ongoing investigations targeting drug-related organised crime activity under Operation Tara.
Separately, also on Thursday, Revenue officers examining parcels at a premises in Athlone seized various types of illegal drugs, including over 1kg of ecstasy, 1kg of ketamine and 0.8kg of MDMA with smaller quantities of cocaine, herbal cannabis, cannabis resin and micro-dosing ‘magic’ truffles were also uncovered.
The haul has an estimated value of more than €150,000 and was discovered concealed in three parcels that originated in the Netherlands and were destined for addresses in Carlow and Dublin.
Investigations are ongoing.
This seizure is part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the importation of illegal drugs. If businesses or members of the public have any information regarding smuggling, they can contact Revenue in confidence on our Confidential Phone Number 1800 295 295.
