Gardaí seize €500k of drugs

GARDAÍ have described the seizure of drugs with an estimated street value of in excess of half a million euro as “very significant”, and revealed that the case was very close to a gangland-style operation.

Ten kilogrammes of a chemical suspected to be mephedrone, with an estimated street value of more than €500,000, and close on 8,000 ecstasy tablets, worth €40,000, were uncovered when detectives and uniformed gardaí swooped on a house in Lee Drive, Tralee, Co Kerry.

A woman in her 20s was arrested at the scene under section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act and questioned at Tralee garda station before being released shortly after 8pm on Thursday. A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Gardaí have described the haul as very considerable, and say the drugs were destined for the local market.

Investigating officers believe the drugs were being stockpiled to be released in the greater Tralee area over an extended period of time.

Sgt Declan Liddane of the Divisional Drugs Unit in Kerry said: “We are delighted with this. We would make seizures of this nature maybe only once every four years.”

Gardaí have sent the drugs to Dublin for forensic analysis but are confident that the chemical is mephedrone, which is also known as “meow meow”.

The gardaí say the raid was the culmination of adetailed and lengthy intelligence-led operation, and thanked members of the public for their assistance.

The haul comes just over a week after gardaí in Killarney uncovered cannabis plants with an estimated street value of €156,000 during a raid on an isolated house in one of the country’s most popular tourist locations.

They discovered 385 plants during the search of the property at Derrycunnihy, which is located close to Moll’s Gap, a hugely popular visitor attraction, 19km from Killarney on the Ring of Kerry route.

One man in his 60s was arrested at the scene and brought to Killarney garda station for questioning.