Cocaine and cash stash seized in Athy Garda search

Gardaí have seized drugs, cash and drug trade equipment during raid in Athy.

Garda HQ said that as part of Operation Tara and ongoing investigations into the drug trade and related crime in Kildare, Gardaí conducted a planned search of a residence in Athy on Monday. 

In the course of the search cash totalling over €19,000 was seized along with a quantity of cocaine (analysis pending).

The guards said a weighing scales and packaging equipment was also found on the property.

A statement said a man in his 30s was later arrested in connection with the investigation and detained at a Garda Station in Kildare under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.

They said the drugs seized will now be sent to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis and investigations are ongoing. 

Gardaí say Operation Tara aims to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug trafficking at all levels from the international to the local. It targets importation, distribution, cultivation, production, local sale and supply of drugs.