A woman made it into the upper ranks of policing in Northern Ireland for the first time tonight when she was appointed as an Assistant Chief Constable.

A driver of a van loaded with almost E5m worth of ecstasy tablets destined for the Cork drugs market was sentenced to 24 years in prison this evening.

The purity of a kilo of cocaine being smuggled into Ireland is reduced by up to five times before it is sold on the streets here, a trial has heard.

Ecstasy tablets destined for Northern Ireland with a street value of £7.5m (€10.8m) were seized by police in a major operation near Amsterdam today.

GARDAÍ in west Cork have launched a major drive against cannabis growers which has already resulted in the seizure of 80 plants worth approximately €10,000.

Fifteen people were today appearing in court following the biggest police crackdown on the heroin trade in Northern Ireland.