Man arrested after €130k worth of drugs found in car

Gardaí from Athlone have arrested a man following the seizure of drugs worth €130k in Ballymore on Monday, September 11.

Shortly before 11am, Gardaí searched a car in the Ballymore area and recovered quantities of cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis with a combined value of €130k (analysis pending). A sum of cash was also recovered.

The occupant of the car, a male aged in his 20s, was arrested and is currently detained under the provisions of Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996 at a Garda Station in Westmeath. He can be held for up to seven days.

The drugs will now be sent to FSI for further analysis.

The search involved members of the Athlone Detective Unit, Westmeath Divisional Drug Unit and the Westmeath Roads Policing Unit.

Investigations are ongoing.

This seizure forms part of Operation Tara; an enhanced national anti-drugs strategy, which was launched by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on July 2, 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.