Drug seizure in West Cork

Cocaine, cannabis, cash and drug-related paraphernalia was seized in Bantry this week.

As part of ongoing investigations targeting the sale and supply of drugs in the region, gardaí carried out searches under warrant at a number of locations in the West Cork town on Tuesday.

Gardaí from Cork County Divisional Drugs Unit assisted by members from the local Crime Unit carried out the operation seizing suspected cocaine with an estimated value of €12,000, a small quantity of cannabis along with nearly €5,000 in cash and drug-related paraphernalia.

Gardaí arrested two men, aged in their 30s and 40s, during this operation and they were detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996 at a garda station in Cork country.

The man aged in his 30s has been charged and is due to appear in court at a later date.

The man aged in his 40s has also been charged and appeared before Macroom District Court on Wednesday, morning.

A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána said: “The seized drugs will be sent to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis. Investigations are ongoing. This seizure forms part of Operation Tara, an enhanced national anti-drugs strategy launched by the garda commissioner in July 2021.”

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