Two Vietnamese men appear in court

Almost 1,200 cannabis plants, with a street value of almost €1m, were discovered along with drug paraphernalia following a search of a disused premises in east Cavan. It was the second such discovery in the county in as many weeks, and the eleventh in the county over the past year. Members of the Cavan/Monaghan Drugs Unit uncovered 1,195 cannabis plants growing in an indoor grow house early on Monday morning at Rahardrum, Virginia. Officers searched the vacant property on Bailieborough Road, under warrant. A garda spokesman told The Anglo-Celt that the plants were being cultivated and estimate their street value, pending analysis, to be over €950,000. The area was sealed off for most of Monday for forensic examination and the investigation is ongoing. The search was part of a planned operation targeting the cultivation of cannabis in the Cavan area. Plants were at various stages of growth, some small and some large, with each worth about €800, the spokesman added. He stated that the disused premises was searched on foot of a warrant issued by Judge Sean MacBride. "Detectives and uniform members from Bailieborough along with detectives from Monaghan were involved in the search of the industrial unit in Virginia on Monday morning," he revealed. Gardaí believe that the find had the potential to be three times what was discovered. Full use was being made of the premises, the garda spokesman declared. It is the second most significant find in recent weeks following the discovery of another grow-house in Cavan Town at the end of January with plants upward of €500,000 seized. See this week's Anglo-Celt newspaper for full report