Weapons seized as scrap metal sites raided

SLASH hooks, meat cleavers and baseball bats with nails hammered into them were seized during a dawn raid on scrap metal sites by multi-agency officials yesterday.

Nearly 50 officials were involved in coordinated searches on a number of sites in north Cork as part of an operation designed to halt the alleged illegal storage and transportation of scrap metal.

The dawn raids, which took place in Charleville, involved Cork County Council personnel, Gardaí, customs, the Special Investigation Unit of Department of Social Welfare and the ISPCA.