Gardaí are questioning six men after a series of coordinated raids in the south east linked to the discovery of back street laboratories where drugs where being manufactured.
The men in custody are suspected of manufacturing and trafficking MDPV, an ecstasy-style psychoactive drug once sold in headshops as ‘super coke’.
The same gang members are also suspected of producing and distributing phenazepam and zopiclone.
Phenazepam is used to treat a number of disorders including epilepsy, insomnia and anxiety but has become a popular relaxant recreational drug.
Zopiclone is also a sedative used to treat insomnia but has become available on the streets and is usually taken as a relaxant to combat the effects of other, illegal, drugs.
A number of facilities where gardai believe all three drugs were being manufactured have been discovered over the past year in Tipperary, Limerick, Kilkenny, Galway and Roscommon.
The evidence found at those locations and intelligence about criminals gardai believed are linked to the illicit drug production resulted in this morning’s operation and the arrests of the six suspects.
The men, who range in age from their 20s to 40s, were detained followed searches in Kilkenny city, Carlow town, Glenmore and Bennettsbridge in Co Kilkenny, Waterford city and Lismore in Co Waterford.
The coordinated raids involved a large team of uniformed gardai and armed detectives from Kilkenny-Carlow, Tipperary, Waterford and Roscommon Garda divisions.
They were supported by armed members of the Regional Support Unit and the Garda Dog Unit.
The arrested men are being questioned in Garda stations across the south east.
They were detained under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and can be held without charge for up to 24 hours.
Gardaí said the raids were part of “an ongoing operation set up to target, disrupt and dismantle the illegal manufacturing and trafficking of medicines and other controlled drugs”.
