Four arrests after house raids in Cork

Four people were arrested in connection with an investigation into drug trafficking and money laundering, following a raid on two houses on the northside of Cork early yesterday morning.

Two men, aged 19 and 29 and two women, aged 28 and 50, were arrested at houses in Fairhill and Knocknaheeny and detained for questioning at garda stations in Gurranabraher, Mayfield and the Bridewell. They were held under the provisions of section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996.

Earlier this month, four family members were arrested in the Gurranabraher and Fairhill areas as part of the same investigation by gardaí from the Cork Divisional Drug Unit and Fraud Unit and members of the Criminal Assets Bureau.

Three women ranging in age from 21 to 50, and one 33-year-old man, were held under the same section of the Criminal Justice Act at Gurranabraher, Mayfield and Bridewell Garda stations but were later released without charge.

Garda sources said the operation that led to the earlier arrests on September 3 were linked to previous seizures of cash and drugs during the last eight to nine months.

It is understood the extended family are well known to gardaí and would previously have been a target of Garda investigations.