Gardaí recover €270k worth of heroin and cannabis

Gardaí have recovered €270,000 in heroin and cannabis following separate operations in Carlow and Cork.

As part of a planned intelligence-led operation, plainclothes officers from the drugs squad and the detective unit raided a property in Carlow town where they discovered a substantial cannabis grow house.

A Garda spokesman said the upstairs of the building had been converted into a grow house and contained a substantial number of plants. Most of the plants had matured, gardaí said.

Paraphernalia associated with plant production, such as lights and heaters was also recovered.

Pending a technical analysis, gardaí suspect the drugs had a street value of approximately €250,000.

They arrested a woman in her mid-40s in connection with the operation. She was taken to Carlow Garda Station where she was detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996.

She can be detained for up to seven days before being charged, or released without charge.

Meanwhile, two other people were also detained under the same legislation in Cork City after drug squad detectives stopped a car in the Tivoli area. They discovered €20,000 worth of heroin hidden in the vehicle when they searched it in the early hours of yesterday.

A man in his early 20s, believed to be from the Togher area of the city along with a woman of similar age were arrested and detained at Mayfield Garda Station.

The operation was carried out by drug squad detectives from Mayfield, aided by colleagues from the Cork City Divisional Drugs Squad based in Anglesea Street Garda Station.

A Garda spokesman said the heroin had been sent for analysis to check its purity. “We believe it was destined for the local market.

“While it might not be a very significant seizure in terms of size, it is nevertheless an important seizure as it would feed all the needs of heroin addicts in Cork for a number of days,” he said.