More than €2.5 million worth of suspected cannabis herb and cannabis plants have been seized following separate searches by gardaí in Laois, Louth and Offaly.
Gardaí in Portlaoise seized approximately 121kg of suspected cannabis herb, with an estimated value of €2.18 million on Monday morning.
At approximately 9.30am, officers responded to a report of unusual activity on a rural road in Emo, Co Laois.
Gardaí conducted a search of a storage facility and the surrounding areas and found pallets containing boxes of vegetables, which had previously been unloaded from an articulated truck.
Gardaí in Portlaoise seized over €2.1 million worth of cannabis herb concealed in a delivery of vegetables, as part of Operation Tara today. One person was arrested during the search operation and is currently detained under drug trafficking legislation. pic.twitter.com/xJeMYRDx0D
— Garda Info (@gardainfo) August 30, 2021
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Following a search of these boxes, Gardaí recovered 121kg of packaged cannabis herb, concealed within the boxes of vegetables.
One man, aged in his 20s, was arrested at the scene and is currently detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996 in Portlaoise Garda station.
Meanwhile, another search operation on Monday at several locations across the country saw gardai seize €384,000 worth of cannabis plants and arrest three men.
The operation was carried out by the Louth drug unit.
One search, which took place at a house in Drogheda, saw 80 fully mature cannabis plants seized. Gardaí estimate they have a street value of €64,000.
Gardaí in Drogheda seized approximately 480 mature cannabis plants during a large scale search operation in counties Louth and Offaly this morning. Three persons were arrested during the operation. pic.twitter.com/tzeYUjkHC3
Advertisement— Garda Info (@gardainfo) August 30, 2021
At another house in Edenderry in Offaly, 400 cannabis plants with an estimated street value of €320,000 were seized.
Three men – one aged in his 20s, another his 30s and the final man in his 40s – were arrested as part of the operation.
A garda spokesperson said that “investigations are ongoing”.
