Man held after €17k drugs seizure

Gardaí and customs officer have seized synthetic cocaine with an estimated street value of €17,500 following an operation in Co Cork which also res-ulted in the arrest of a 54-year-old man.

Revenue’s Customs Service is understood to have tracked a small parcel which was posted from abroad to a house in Churchtown, near Buttevant.

The occupant of the house was arrested last Monday at around 4.30pm after he took delivery of the package, which contained 5kgs of the drug.

Senior Garda sources described the discovery of synthetic cocaine as unusual.

It is believe the drug was produced in Asia, possibly China.

“This was an intelligence-led operation which involved customs officer, members of the Garda National Drugs Unit and the Mallow District Drugs Unit,” said a Garda source.

He said while it was not unusual for drugs to be sent through the post to people it was very unusual to intercept synthetically produced cocaine. The substance is believed to be a fair bit cheaper than the real thing.

“You could see any type of drugs delivered through the post but this is most unusual. In recent times, I certainly haven’t come this,” said another senior Garda source.

The man who was arrested had not come to garda attention before.

He was arrested and taken to Mallow Garda Station where he was detained under Section 4 of the criminal Justice Act 1984.

He was questioned for a number of hours by detectives before being released without charge.

Gardaí said that a file would now be prepared for the DPP and their investigations are continuing.