€3m drugs haul as gardaí smash crime link

ALMOST €3 million in drugs was seized by gardaí yesterday in a determined bid to smash a Cork-Dublin crime link.

Gardaí scored three major hits against some of the main players in the lucrative underworld drugs racket.

In a meticulously planned operation in Dublin, Naas and Cork, five people were arrested and drugs with a street value in excess of €2.7million were seized.

Two gardaí were injured and a number of private vehicles were rammed in a dramatic high speed car chase in Dublin yesterday after which five people were arrested and drugs with a value of €1m were recovered. Two kilos of cocaine were recovered from the car and its two occupants were arrested.

In a follow-up search at a hotel on the Naas Road three people were arrested and about 10kg of cocaine was seized. The estimated street value of the cocaine is €1m.

Later yesterday, a house in the Midleton area was raided with gardaí discovering 170,000 ecstasy tablets worth €1.7m and cocaine worth €30,000 was also uncovered.