€6 million cocaine seizure on Wexford farm dismantles international drug trafficking route
The search operation carried out last night was part of an ongoing international investigation
Gardaí have seized over 100kg of cocaine worth €6 million and arrested five people following a large search operation.
The operation is led by the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and involves over 100 gardaí from across the country. The Bureau has also been working with international organisations such as Europol, the FBI, Canadian Mounted Police, French National Gendarmerie and the Australian Federal Police.
Last night, gardaí searched a remote farmhouse in County Wexford as part of a surveillance and intelligence led operation. There, they found over 100kg of cocaine with an estimated worth of over €6 million in an articulated truck. Four men were arrested at the scene.
A fifth person was arrested in Dublin after follow-up searches were carried out in Dublin and Wexford. The five men in custody have been detained.
One of the men detained has been described as a key figure in the logistics business who owns a transport company on the east coast.
A large amount of cash was also seized and gardaí say this is still being counted as part of what remains an ongoing operation.
The discovery has dismantled a major international drug trafficking route and resulted in the arrest of a key figure involved in its transportation network.
The operation was targeted at a Dublin-based organised crime group which has been investigated by gardaí for some time, as well as other figures involved in drugs. The Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau believe the group have been trafficking millions of euro worth of heroin and cocaine into Ireland.
The organised crime group is said to have contacts in the international drugs market.
As the investigation is ongoing, Garda Headquarters said it was unable to comment at this point.