Man (30s) arrested and €2.2 million worth of drugs seized in Co Laois and Dublin

Ellen O'Donoghue

A man was arrested and around €2.2 million of controlled drugs were seized during an operation on Friday evening.

Officers attached to the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, with assistance from the Clondalkin Drugs Unit, intercepted a vehicle on the M7 motorway in Co Laois.

Around €100,000 worth of suspected cocaine was discovered and seized by gardaí.

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

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

A quantity of cash and a number of other 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, and investigations are ongoing, a garda statement said.