Gardaí and customs net €45m drugs in 40 operations

More than 40 top-secret “controlled delivery operations” were conducted by gardaí and Customs last year, netting drugs worth over €45 million.

The joint operations were responsible for almost half of the total value of drugs seized during 2012 (over €100m) and included the biggest-ever inland seizure of cocaine in the State.

University graduate Garreth Hopkins was sentenced to 15 years last month in relation to the interception of 423kg of cocaine, with a nominal value of €30m, in June 2012.