Gardaí believe they have delivered a blow to a drug-supply network in Cork following the arrest on Tuesday of two people in connection with a significant seizure of heroin.
Detectives from the Cork City Divisional Drugs Squad arrested a woman (42) following the seizure of 1.5kg of heroin at her home in the Blackrock area of Cork City at 11am. The drug quantity had a street value of €200,000.
Gardaí also arrested a 60-year-old man from Co Tipperary close to the scene in the intelligence-led operation.
The woman was taken to the Bridewell Garda station, Cork, while the man was taken to Mayfield Garda station on suspicion of possessing drugs for sale or supply in the city.
Both are detained under Section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act. This allows gardaí to detain suspects for up to seven days before they must be charged with an offence or released without charge.
A Garda source told The Irish Times they believe the heroin was destined for the Cork market, where it’s estimated there are more than 800 users of the drug.
“This is a significant seizure because we don’t usually see this much heroin being brought to Cork in one go,” said the source. ”Couriers usually bring down smaller amounts, so this seizure takes a lot of heroin off the streets.”
It represents the biggest heroin seizure in Cork since 2019, when officers intercepted 2.5kg of the drug, with a street value of €350,000. On that occasion, a courier was stopped after getting off a coach from Dublin.
The seized drugs have been sent to the Forensic Science Ireland laboratory in Dublin to establish its purity. The analysis results will be included in a file prepared by gardaí for the Director of Public Prosecutions.