Men flee cocaine factory before garda raid

TWO men are on the run after they fled from a cocaine factory in a seaside apartment block shortly before a garda raid.

They escaped from the apartment in Donabate, Co Dublin, before gardaí arrived to carry out a search.

Cocaine with a street value of €1.3m was discovered in the apartment along with chemicals and machinery used to mix, cut and pack the drug.

Neighbours in the apartment block reported hearing noises over the weekend. It is understood gardaí were then alerted and that it was not a planned raid.

The apartment in Ballisk Court, part of a block that is still being built, was rented by a woman last Wednesday. She is also wanted for questioning.

Garda sources said the apartment was not under surveillance and that members were alerted by the disturbance caused by the machine.

A garda spokesperson said: “Following the search of an apartment in Donabate, Co Dublin, gardaí at Swords have recovered a quantity of cocaine with an estimated street value of €1.3 million along with a manual hydraulic compressor, a chemical mix, a large quantity of mixing agents and household liquidisers.”

The compressor is used to pack the drug and mixed agent together.

The mixing agents used to dilute the cocaine were lactose and mannitol. It took four gardaí to remove the machinery from the apartment.

A total of 19kg of cocaine was found, 10kg of which was uncut. It was found packed in blocks under a bed in one of the rooms.

The raid took place shortly after 7pm yesterday.

The factory is one of four discovered by gardaí in recent months following raids on premises in Kildare, Drogheda and Rathgar in south Dublin.