Gardaí make €8.4m cocaine seizure outside Mullingar

One hundred and twenty kilos of cocaine with an estimated street value of €8.4m were recovered after two vehicles were intercepted just outside Mullingar yesterday evening.

An Garda Siochana says that the seizure is the result of ongoing investigations targeting drug related organised crime activity under Operation Tara. Personnel attached to the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau supported by other national units, intercepted two vehicles shortly after 6pm at two locations in the Lough Owel area.

In the course of the operation, 120 kilogrammes of cocaine with an estimated street value of €8.4 million (subject to analysis) was recovered along with several communications devices.

Follow up searches were conducted at residential premises in Naas, County Kildare and Waterford City, and at a commercial airfield in County Longford where a light aircraft has been seized.

Two males, age 54 and 40 years, were arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking contrary to section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 and are currently detained, pursuant to the provisions of section 2 of Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996, at Ashbourne Garda Station, Dublin.

Following the operation Assistant Commissioner Justin Kelly, the Head of Organised and Serious Crime said: " This operation has prevented a considerable quantity of dangerous drugs from making it onto our streets and causing significant harm to our communities. An Garda Síochána is committed, under Operation Tara, to disrupting and dismantling the organised criminal networks who profit from drug trafficking and impact so negatively on our society”.