Drugs worth €270,000 seized in Cork and Dublin

Gardaí in Cork and Dublin have made separate seizures of drugs worth almost €270,000.

As part of a planned operation gardai searched a house in Sundale, Tallaght last night, a Garda spokesman said.

During the course of the search they discovered benzodiazepine tablets (pending analysis) with an estimated street value of up to €104,000 and cannabis plants with an estimated street value of up to €30,000.

A man in his late 20s was arrested at the scene and he is detained at Terenure Garda station under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.

In Cork, gardai investigating the sale and supply of controlled drugs in the Cork area also arrested a man following a drugs seizure last night.

Gardaí from Mitchelstown searched a house in Drough, Mitchelstown yesterday evening and uncovered a growhouse. They seized cannabis plants and cannabis herb (pending analysis) with an estimated street value of up to €134,000.

Gardai found 80 nearly mature plants in the sitting room of the house, which had been converted into a nursery area complete with heating and lighting apparatus. Gardai also recovered a quantity of harvested cannabis herb while they also found further quantities of the drug drying in the attic.

A man in his 40s was later arrested and was held at at Mitchelstown Garda station under section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996. He was released from custody late last night and a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

It is the third major cannabis growhouse uncovered in Co Cork in recent weeks and follows two similar finds in Ballyvourney and Rathmore in Co Kerry.