Stopping car on M7 leads to gardaí discovering €2.2m worth of drugs

A man in his 30s is due to appear before Blanchardstown District Court on Monday in connection with the seizure of drugs on the M7 on Friday. 

Gardaí seized approximately €2.2 million of controlled drugs and arrested the man. 

Officers attached to the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) with assistance from the Clondalkin Drugs Unit, intercepted a vehicle on the M7 motorway on the Laois / Kildare border. 

Approximately €100,000 worth of suspected cocaine was discovered and seized by Gardaí.

A male, aged in his 30s, was arrested at the scene and detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996 at a Garda station in the Dublin Metropolitan Region.

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A follow-up search was conducted of a residence in West Dublin which resulted in a further seizure of an estimated €160,000 cannabis, €1.2 million ketamine, €530,000 cocaine and €210,000 diamorphine.

A quantity of cash and a number of items were also seized by Gardaí.

The seized drugs, with a total estimated street value of €2.2 million, have been forwarded to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis.

Gardaí said that investigations are ongoing.

This seizure forms part of Operation Tara; an enhanced national anti-drugs strategy, which was launched by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on 2nd July 2021.

The focus of Operation Tara is to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug trafficking networks, at all levels - international, national, local - involved in the importation, distribution, cultivation, production, local sale and supply of controlled drugs.