€3.1m of cocaine, stacks of cash, luxury cars and jewellery seized as gardaí search 37 premises

Two men have been arrested after €3.1 million worth of cocaine, €353,000 in cash, cars, jewellery, designer watches, electronic devices, laptops and smartphones were seized by gardai during searches across two counties.

Gardai searched 37 houses, businesses and vehicles throughout locations in Dublin and Wicklow as part of an ongoing investigation into the activities of a drug trafficking network.

The operation was led by the Serious Crime Investigation, Drugs and Specialist Support Units of the DMR South with assistance from the Dublin Crime Response Team, personnel from the Clondalkin, Blackrock, Dun Laoghaire, Bray and Wicklow Districts, the Garda Dog Unit, the Customs Canine Unit and the Armed Support Unit.

On Thursday, a man aged in his 30s, was arrested after 44kg of cocaine was found during the search of a vehicle in Wicklow. 

A second man, also aged in his 30s, was arrested after gardai discovered a total of €353,000.

€213,000 in cash was found at a house in Clondalkin, with a further €140,000 found in follow-up searches.

Eight cars, estimated to be worth more than €200,000, were seized and over €280,000 were frozen in bank accounts as evidence of money laundering and proceeds of crime.

A quantity of jewellery, including designer watches, electronic devices, laptops, and smartphones were also seized.