Gardaí seize drugs worth over €700,000 from a farm in Co Cork

A 44-year-old man was arrested after gardaí seized drugs worth more than €700,00 during a series of raids in Cork on Saturday.

The seizure marks the largest seizure of drugs by gardaí in Cork this year and is part of an intelligence led operation targeting the sale and supply of drugs in the Cork region.

Gardaí recovered the drugs during a search of a farm in Bweeng near Mallow in north Cork just before 3pm where they found cocaine, cannabis herb and cannabis resin hidden in sheds and vehicles.

Detectives recovered 4kg of cocaine with a street value of €280,000, 4kg of cannabis herb with a street value of €80,000 and 60kg of cannabis resin with a street value of €360,000.

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The drugs were removed and sent for analysis to the Forensic Science Laboratory while garda technical experts carried out a forensic examination of the scene for any fingerprint and DNA evidence.

Officers from Mallow arrested a 44-year-old man at the isolated farm, which is about 15km from Mallow, and brought him to Mallow Garda station for questioning.

The man was detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drugs Trafficking Act) 1996, which allows gardaí detain suspects for up to seven days before they have to be charged or released.

The drugs seizure in Bweeng followed earlier searches in Gurranebraher in Cork city and in Blarney where gardaí recovered a quantity of cash, which they believe is linked to a drugs gang operating in Cork.

They believe that the drugs were being imported into the country through Dublin and shipped to the remote farm at Bweeng, which was being used as a base to supply drug dealers in Cork city.

Detectives believe the operation is being masterminded by a man from Cork who is currently living in the UK and sourcing the drugs there via UK and international contacts for supply back into Cork.

Gardaí have ruled out any link between Saturday’s seizure and the murder of a 36-year-old man in Bweeng in February 2015 in a suspected row over drugs with a local North Cork drugs gang.