Gardai seized £1 million worth of ecstasy tablets in Dublin yesterday following a high-speed chase. The seizure was the biggest drug haul this year and followed a six-week surveillance operation.
The 100,000 tablets were found in a van after it crashed near the Ballymount exit on the M50 shortly after 9 a.m. Three men in the van were arrested and detained under section 2 of the Drug--Trafficking Act at Blanchardstown Garda station. They can be held for up to seven days.
The three men have Dublin addresses and are aged between their late teens and late 20s.
The Garda surveillance operation was carried out by the National Drugs Unit and the drugs unit at Sundrive Road station. Their operation focused on the activities of south Dublin criminals. Gardai believe two gangs were linked to the haul.
Although results of forensic tests are awaited, gardai believe the tablets were highly potent and have a street value of between £10 and £15 each.
Elsewhere gardai in Ronans town, Clondalkin, arrested three men in Collinstown Park last night after seizing £40,000 worth of cannabis. The local men, aged 19, 26 and 30, were known to gardai, a spokesman said.