€2m drug haul: four men arrested in Garda crackdown on trafficking networks

Cocaine worth €1.6m and heroin worth €529,000 were seized on Wednesday. Two men have been charged with drug trafficking and money-laundering offences.

Four arrested after €2m cocaine and heroin seizure targeting regional networks

Four men have been arrested following a major drugs seizure worth more than €2 million, the Irish Times reports, after an operation targeting drug-trafficking networks across multiple Garda regions.

The Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau carried out the operation on Wednesday, seizing cocaine with an estimated value of €1.6 million and diamorphine — heroin — valued at approximately €529,000. A small quantity of psilocin, commonly known as "magic mushrooms", was also recovered, along with several vehicles and €34,300 in cash.

Officers from the Northwestern Region, Eastern Region and Dublin Metropolitan Region all participated in the operation, which An Garda Síochána described in a statement on Thursday evening as targeting "regional drug-trafficking networks".

The four men arrested are aged in their 20s, 40s and 60s. Two have been charged with drug trafficking and money-laundering offences and have appeared before Kilkenny District Court and the Criminal Courts of Justice. The remaining two men are being held at Garda stations in Dublin.

"Investigations are ongoing," An Garda Síochána said.

The seizures were conducted under Operation Tara, a national initiative designed to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug-trafficking networks "at all levels".

Source: Irish Times