A six-month covert Garda operation targeting heroin dealers in Cork sends out a strong message that offenders will be caught and brought before the courts, senior gardaí said last night.

Separate operations in Cork, Dublin, and Wexford will have a “significant impact” on the supply of heroin, according to senior gardaí.

Gardaí claimed one of the men arrested following an operation targeting heroin dealers was planning an armed robbery of a rural Cork post office.

If anyone imagines that serious drug crime happens in other countries but not here, the latest Garda operation should give them pause for thought.