Drugs operation smashed as gardaí raid cocaine factory

GARDAÍ believe they have broken up one of the most notorious drugs operations in the Leinster region with the discovery of a cocaine mixing factory in Maynooth, Co Kildare.

Last night, gardaí from the National Drugs Unit made the discovery after an intensive undercover operation which focused on key players in the Dublin drugs scene.

Sophisticated cocaine-mixing and packaging machinery was seized when the commercial premises was raided by the authorities in Maynooth.

Some 30kgs of cocaine mix was found, as well as a considerable quantity of pure cocaine, along with other materials used in the cutting, mixing and packaging of cocaine for the street market.

Gardaí also discovered €100,000 in cash. Four men were arrested in follow-up searches, one of whom was believed to be one of the architects of a major Dublin drugs gang.

At the beginning of this month gardaí in Dublin seized one tonne of cannabis resin, with an estimated street value of €7 million, as part of a stepped-up investigation into criminal activity in Dublin.

In what is the second major seizure of the illegal substance in a month, officers from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation discovered the drugs after they stopped and searched a van on the M1 motorway at Whitehall.

Late last month, 1.5 tonnes of cannabis resin, worth an estimated €10.5 million, were seized at a warehouse near the Naas Road in Dublin.

The drugs were shipped into Dublin Port from Spain, and were packed in boxes labelled “notepads.”

The seizure of cannabis resin with a total estimated street value of some €17.5 million over the period is expected to have a significant impact on the availability of the drug in Dublin over the Christmas period.