Two men were being questioned last night after gardaí seized cocaine with an estimated street value of €200,000 during a planned operation in Co Kildare on Thursday night.
The drugs were found when a car was stopped and searched in the village of Monasterevin. The men, a 40-year-old from the north side of Dublin, and a 35-year-old from Monasterevin, were arrested at the scene.
They were taken for questioning to Monasterevin Garda station and can be held for up to seven days without charge. Gardaí said the operation was part of an ongoing investigation into the activities of an organised crime gang based in the Finglas area of north Dublin.
The man from Dublin under arrest last night is from Finglas. The three kilos of drugs seized were undergoing technical examination last night. Depending on purity levels, the haul has an estimated value of €200,000.
The seizure followed the discovery on Thursday evening of a large quantity of cannabis in Co Wexford. Some 50kg of the drug, valued at €350,000, were seized during a search in New Ross.
A man from the town and another suspect from Waterford were arrested.
Meanwhile, gardaí in Blanchardstown, Dublin, seized ecstasy tablets valued at several thousand euro on Thursday. There were no arrests but investigations were ongoing last night.