Gardai in Limerick arrested six men and seized a gun and drugs with an estimated value of €40,000 in raids in Limerick city this morning.
A Garda spokeswoman said that the men were arrested following searches of 20 or 30 houses in the city centre, St Mary's Park in the north of the city, and Southhill Park on the southside.
The six with ages ranging from 18 to 30 are currently detained in various Garda Stations in the city and can be held for up to seven days under drug trafficking legislation.
Around 100 gardaí - including officers from the National Drugs Squad - sniifer dogs and a helicopter from the Air Support Unit were involved in the early morning raids.
The anit-drugs operation is believed to be one of the largest ever mounted outside Dublin.