Two men from the west Cork area were being detained at Bandon Garda station yesterday following the seizure of a kilogram of heroin with a street value in excess of €200,000 in the town.
A 34-year-old man was arrested on Friday evening while a 28-year-old man was arrested on Saturday evening after they tried to avoid a routine Garda checkpoint.
The men drove in to a housing estate in Bandon on Friday afternoon to avoid a checkpoint, which prompted gardaí to put a surveillance operation in place. The drugs were uncovered on Friday evening following a search of the estate.
The drugs were found on the town's Clonakilty Road.
Gardaí would not give details of the exact location of the find, but said the two men were both known to gardaí.
The man in his 30s was arrested when he returned to the estate to retrieve the drugs on Friday evening, while the younger man was arrested on Saturday night as he attempted to make his getaway from the area.
Both men were being held at Bandon Garda station yesterday under the provisions of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act. They can be detained for a period of seven days.
The heroin seizure equals the largest haul ever previously recovered in Cork.
Detectives from the Cork city divisional drugs squad recovered a kilo of heroin with a street value of €200,000 on September 28th last when they stopped and searched a car in Shanakiel on the city's north side.
A man has been before the courts in connection with the haul.
Over the past four years, heroin use has increased dramatically in the city.
In the past 12 months, gardaí have also seized heroin on a number of occasions, but the amounts have been relatively small.