Multiple arrests made after seizure of huge haul of cannabis worth €8.5 million in Dublin

Over 400 kilos of cannabis were seized after Gardaí intercepted two vehicles and carried out a search of a business premises

Four men have been arrested following the seizure of cannabis with an estimated street value of €8.5 million in Dublin.

A joint operation by members of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and the Tallaght Drug Unit saw 429 kilos of cannabis seized in the Ballymount area of Dublin on Friday afternoon.

Gardaí intercepted two vehicles shortly after 3pm on Friday and, in a planned search of a business premises, 429 kilos of cannabis with a street value of €8.5 million was seized.

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Four men - aged 31, 45, 52 and 58 - were arrested under Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2006 for offences of facilitating and enhancing a criminal organisation to commit drug trafficking offences. All four are detained under the provisions of Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2007 at Garda stations in the Dublin Region. Investigations are ongoing.

Commenting on the seizure, head of Organised and Serious Crime, Assistant Commissioner Justin Kelly, said: "This operation is another example of our commitment to target the enablers and facilitators of global drug trafficking networks and our ongoing efforts to make Ireland a difficult environment for them to operate in.”

This seizure forms part of Operation Tara, an enhanced national anti-drugs strategy launched by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in July 2021.

The focus of Operation Tara is to disrupt, dismantle, and prosecute drug trafficking networks at all levels—international, national, and local—involved in the importation, distribution, cultivation, production, local sale, and supply of controlled drugs.

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