Two men arrested after drugs worth €8.2m seizure in Co Kildare

Two men have been arrested after gardaí seized cannabis worth an estimated €7.4 million after they stopped and searched a vehicle in Co Kildare on Thursday night.

An estimated 374kg of cannabis herb was found in the vehicle and in follow-up searches carried out by officers from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

The Garda, in an update issued on Friday night, said that a comprehensive search of the vehicle found 11kg of cocaine, with an estimated street value of €770,000, bringing to €8.2 million the overall value of the drugs seized.

The two men, aged 46 and 49, were arrested under section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act and are being questioned at Naas Garda station. They can be questioned for seven days.

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On Friday morning, Detective Chief Superintendent Angela Willis said the operation demonstrated the force's determination to "tackle the supply of controlled drugs that cause significant harm and misery in our communities".

Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll praised gardaí for their successes in “tackling serious and organised crime in the challenging circumstances arising from the Covid-19 pandemic”.

Since the start of the year, the bureau has seized drugs with an estimated street value of €12.1 million.