€8.5m worth of cocaine and cannabis seized in Meath and Louth, two arrests

Gardai have seized an estimated €8.5m worth of cocaine and cannabis after intercepting a vehicle in Co Meath and conducted searches in a number of location in both Meath and Louth. Two men have been arrested.

The intelligence-led investigation under Operation Tara, personnel attached to the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau conducted an intervention of a vehicle in Co Meath. Coordinated searches were subsequently conducted in a number of locations in counties Meath and Louth.

Two males (aged in their 30s and 40s) were arrested and are currently detained, pursuant to the provisions of Section 50 of Criminal Justice Act 2007, at a Garda Station in the Eastern Region.

The seized drugs will be sent to Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) for analysis.

This seizure forms part of Operation Tara; an enhanced national anti-drugs strategy, which was launched by the Garda Commissioner in 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.

Investigations are ongoing.

More to follow