An estimated €250,000 in cash that was seized as part of an Irish-Australian police operation into drug trafficking was found literally stuffed inside the mattress of a bed.

There’s always a temptation to say a major drugs haul represents a ‘significant blow’ to the crime gang being hit. Researchers have long complained of the tendency of the media, and gardaí, to make such claims, writes Cormac O’Keeffe.