Six arrests after €2.8m Dublin cocaine find
Gardaí displayed some of the cash and other items seized during the operation
- Published
Six people are still being questioned by gardaí (Irish police) after cocaine with an estimated street value of €2.8m (£2.5m) was seized in Dublin.
The discovery was made on Tuesday when officers searched a business premises on the Long Mile Road.
They also found a hydraulic drugs press, drug mixing paraphernalia, a money counter and €78,000 (£69,000) in cash.
Irish broadcaster RTÉ reported that it was a cocaine mixing factory being operated for the Kinahan crime gang.
The Kinahan gang has been involved in a long-running feud with a rival crime gang that has claimed 18 lives.
A hydraulic drugs press was discovered during the searches
During the planned operation, two vehicles were stopped in the Ballyfermot and Blanchardstown areas of the Irish capital shortly after 11:00 local time on Tuesday.
Officers seized more than 2,000 canisters of nitric oxide and mixing agents during the operation.
Seven men and one woman who range in age from their late 20s to early 50s were arrested.
Two of the men were released without charge.
Assistant Commissioner Justin Kelly said the "substantial seizure of cocaine has shown An Garda Síochána is determined to disrupt the distribution networks of organised groups who cause harm to our communities".