Gardaí recover €100,000 of drugs after stopping pair over fireworks

Cobh officers find drugs in backpacks of men suspected of selling illegal fireworks

File photograph: Alan Betson
File photograph: Alan Betson

Gardaí in Cork, who spotted two men they thought they might be selling illegal fireworks on Halloween night, recovered €100,000 worth of drugs after stopping the pair.

Gardaí on patrol in Russell Heights in Cobh around 9pm on Monday noticed the two men with backpacks behaving suspiciously. They approached them thinking they may be selling illegal fireworks.

The two men fled on foot, but gardaí gave chase. After a short pursuit they apprehended the two men and searched their backpacks to discover that they both contained drugs.

Officers recovered just over €100,000 worth of drugs, including some €90,580 worth of cocaine and €10,240 worth of cannabis, as well as €2,100 in cash, which they confiscated.

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Gardaí arrested the two men - one, aged 30, from the Castlemartyr area of East Cork and the other, aged 38, from the Glen area of Cork city - and conveyed them to Cobh Garda Station.

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

Barry Roche

Barry Roche

Barry Roche is Southern Correspondent of The Irish Times