Garda units seize suspected cannabis and cocaine worth €8.2m in Kildare

The seizures reflect the shipment of very large consignments of cannabis herb into the country and continuing operations by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB). Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Garda gangland units have intercepted a massive consignment of cannabis in what is the latest major haul of the drug in recent months.

The seizure of 374kg of cannabis herb, with an estimated street value of €7.4m, comes on the back of a 129kg haul earlier this month and over 50kg in January.

The last similar size haul of the drug was in October 2020, when 352kg of herb was seized.

The seizures reflect the shipment of very large consignments of cannabis herb into the country and continuing operations by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB).

In Thursday’s operation, GNDOCB and the Special Crime Task Force, which is part of the bureau, targeted a gang based on intelligence. They were assisted by officers from Dublin.

On Friday, GNDOCB officers, assisted by personnel attached to a Special Crime Task Force and the Dublin Metropolitan Region conducted a comprehensive search of a particular vehicle, in the course of which eleven (11) kilogrammes of cocaine was located and seized.

The estimated street value of the substance believed to be cocaine is €770,000, bringing to €8.2 million the estimated value of all drugs seized in this investigation, to date.

“In the course of the operation, approximately 374kgs of a substance suspected to be Cannabis Herb, with an estimated street value of €7.4 million, was seized in Co Kildare,” said a Garda statement on Thursday.

It said two males, aged 49 and 46, were arrested and detained in Naas Garda Station, pursuant to section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996.

"The operation undertaken today involving participation by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and personnel in the DMR, which has resulted in the seizure of illicit drugs with an estimated street value of €7.4m, demonstrates An Garda Síochána’s continued determination to tackling the supply of controlled drugs that cause significant harm and misery in our communities," said bureau head Detective Chief Superintendent Angela Willis.

"We will continue to target those who are engaged in the distribution of illicit drugs."