THREE PEOPLE HAVE been arrested after gardaí and Revenue officers seized €4 million worth of cocaine in the eastern area of the country.

Gardaí said an operation was carried out yesterday involving searches of a business premises in Co Kildare and residential addresses in Co Wexford.

The searches resulted in a seizure of a total of 58kg of suspected cocaine, with an estimated value of €4,060,000 (subject to analysis).

Two men, aged in their 30s and 40s, and a woman, aged in her 40s, were arrested under Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, in relation to facilitating and enhancing drug trafficking activities for an organised crime group.

They are currently being held under the provisions of Section 50 of Criminal Justice Act 2007 at garda stations in Kildare and Dublin.

Gardaí said the drugs will be forwarded to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis.

The operation was part of ongoing investigations targeting organised crime activity under Operation TARA, an operation was put in place with personnel attached to the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau and the Revenue Customs Service.

Cigarettes seized

The seized cigarettes.

Separately, Revenue tobacco detector dog Maggie helped officers identify and seize 960,000 cigarettes in Dublin Airport yesterday.

The cigarettes had an estimated value of €887,808 representing a loss to the Exchequer of approximately €688,732. The cigarettes were branded Top Gun, and were discovered in an air cargo consignment, manifested as Oils & Fats, that had originated from the Middle East.