Cocaine with an estimated street value of €8.5 million has been seized in Dublin in one of the largest drug finds this year.
The drugs were seized by gardaí following a planned search of a house on Corrib Road in Terenure last night.
A drug-mixing factory was discovered during the course of the search led by gardaí from Terenure and Kevin Street.
Two semi-automatic handguns were also recovered. The drug seizure was made as part of ongoing investigations into organised crime in south Dublin.
Two people, a 24-year-old woman and a 29-year-old man, remain in custody following a number of searches late last week. They are being questioned ay Kilmainham and Kevin St Garda stations Section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act.
During these searches gardaí uncovered what they described as a “sophisticated cocaine factory” where cocaine and dental anaesthetic with a combined street value of €2 million was seized.
Gardaí also found some €60,000 in cash at one of a number of houses searched during the operation.
The discovery of the operation was made when gardaí raided a house in the Cushlawn estate in Tallaght, west Dublin.
The search was part of a wider operation into the activities of two gangs involved in a feud in the suburbs of Crumlin and Drimnagh in southwest Dublin.
When the Tallaght property was raided on Thursday night, gardaí found cocaine bagged for resale. Some 60kg of lignocaine was also found with blenders and weighing scales.
Garda sources said the drugs that had already been bagged were of significantly larger quantities than street deals, which are normally sold in small bags for about €80.
“The stuff was going to be sold on to somebody else who would cut it down again for selling to users,” said one source.
Dental anaesthetics are used in the bulking-up process because they mimic some of the physical effects of cocaine use, such as numbing of the gums and throat.
Apart from the Tallaght search, a number of other properties were searched in Walkinstown in west Dublin and in Drimnagh. Further searches were carried out in Rathcoole and Clondalkin.