Cannabis and cocaine with an estimated street value of £1.2 million was seized in three separate discoveries in Limerick yesterday.
Gardai said a local man in his 40s is being held under drug trafficking legislation which allows his detention for up to seven days.
The first seizure was made yesterday morning when 20 kilos of cannabis, worth about £200,000, was discovered in a sack being carried by the arrested man in the St Mary's Park area of the city. The man is understood to be a leading drug pusher in the city. He is a member of a prominent Limerick gang.
Two separate drugs seizures were made during the afternoon in follow-up searches. In one, 11 kilos of cocaine and 24 kilos of cannabis were found on waste ground at St Mary's Park.
Later, a small quantity of cannabis and ecstasy tablets were discovered in the same area.
Supt Tony Kennelly, of Henry Street Garda station, said the seizures, which were put on display, were made as part of an investigation into organised crime and a feud between rival drug gangs in the north side of the city. "It is a major development," he said.
Significant drugs seizures have been made around the city this summer. In July, £100,000 of cannabis was seized in the Hyde Road area.
In June, ecstasy tablets worth £1 million were found on a farm at Meelick, outside the city.