Carlow Drugs Unit make huge cannabis bust worth nearly €7 million in bordering town

Cannabis with an estimated street value of approximately €7 million was recovered at a property in Athy on Wednesday, with the help of the Carlow Drugs Unit. 

As part of ongoing investigations under Operation Tara, Gardaí from the Kildare/Carlow Drugs Units, supported by the Kildare/Carlow Crime Functional Area and Eastern Regional Units, conducted a series of planned searches in County Kildare on Wednesday, 1st April 2026.

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During the search of a property in Athy, Gardaí recovered the massive haul of which resulted in four people being arrested at the scene.

Three males (two in their 30s, one in his 40s) and one female in her 20s are all currently detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996 at Garda stations in the Eastern Region.

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

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A Senior Investigating Officer has been appointed and an incident room has been established at Carlow Garda Station.

Investigations are ongoing.