Gardaí seize cocaine and cannabis in Cobh

Drugs seized in Cobh on Saturday as part of Operation Tara. Picture: An Garda Síochána

Gardaí in East Cork have seized cannabis with an estimated value of €50,000, as well as a small quantity of cocaine, and arrested a man in his 30s and a woman in her 20s.

A garda spokesperson said officers attached to the Cork North East Divisional Drugs Unit conducted a search of a residential property in the Cobh area on Saturday as part of Operation Tara.

During the search, gardaí seized the drugs and utensils for the mixing and preparation of drugs.

The man and woman were arrested and were last night being held in garda stations in the southern region under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996.

The seized drugs will be sent to Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) for analysis, the garda spokesperson added.

Last month, in a separate garda operation, weapons, vehicles and electronic devices were seized by detectives and uniformed gardaí, supported by the armed support unit and the dog unit, as part of a large-scale garda operation targeting organised crime in Cobh.

A number of premises and vehicles in the town were searched as part of what a garda source said at the time was a well-resourced operation targeting organised criminal activity in the town.

The operation involved a large team of gardaí from the Cork county crime and Cork county north-east community engagement units, assisted by the garda armed support unit, the dog unit and other officers.

As a result of that garda investigation, multiple electronic devices, weapons, vehicles, e-scooters and suspected controlled substances were seized.