Gardai make major drugs seizure after stopping car on motorway in the Midlands

A man was arrested when Gardai stopped a car and seized a large amount of drugs on the Motorway in Laois yesterday.

Cannabis herb valued at €40,000 was discovered when the man was arrested as part of Operation TARA, which was launched two years ago to disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking networks.  

Gardaí from the Roads Policing Unit at Portlaoise stopped the car on the M7 in Portlaoise.

Following a search of the car, cannabis herb worth approximately €40,000 was seized. The driver of the car, a man his 40s, was arrested and taken to a Garda Station in Laois.  

He is currently detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996. He can be held for up to seven days.

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Gardai said the drugs seized will be subjected to analysis.  The investigation is ongoing and further updates will follow.

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, local - involved in the importation, distribution, cultivation, production, local sale and supply of controlled drugs.