Man charged in connection with seizure of €50,000 in cannabis and cocaine in East Cork town

A man in his 30s has been charged and is due to appear before a sitting of Midleton District Court on Monday morning, following the seizure in an East Cork town on Saturday of cannabis with an estimated value of €50,000, as well as a small quantity of cocaine.

A spokesperson said gardaí attached to the Cork North East Divisional Drugs Unit had conducted a search on Saturday of a residential property in the Cobh area as part of Operation Tara.

During their search, gardaí seized the drugs, as well as utensils for the mixing and preparation of drugs.

The man, and a woman in her 20s, were arrested in connection with the investigation and detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996.

The woman was released without charge on Sunday afternoon, and gardaí said a file would be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

On Sunday evening, the garda press office said the man had been charged and was due to appear before a sitting of Midleton District Court on Monday morning.

The seized drugs will be sent to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis, the press office added.

Last month, in a separate garda operation, weapons, vehicles, and electronic devices were seized by detectives and uniformed gardaí, supported by the armed support unit and the dog unit, as part of a garda operation targeting organised crime in Cobh.

A number of premises and vehicles were searched as part of what a garda source said at the time was a well-resourced operation targeting organised criminal activity in the town.

The operation involved a large team of gardaí from the Cork county crime and Cork county north-east community engagement units, assisted by the garda armed support unit, the dog unit and other officers.

As a result of that garda investigation, multiple electronic devices, weapons, vehicles, e-scooters and suspected controlled substances were seized.