Two men have been arrested after gardai seized almost 2 million euro of illegal tablets in searches in Dublin.
As part of Operation Citizen, the Dublin Crime Response Team (DCRT), with the assistance of other regional units, carried out a planned operation targeting the main supply line of illegal tablets into Dublin city centre.
The first part of this operation involved the stop and search of a car in the south Dublin area.
More than 10,000 Zopiclone and Alprazolam tablets, valued at 20,000 euro, were recovered from the car.
A number of planned searches were then carried out across Dublin.
During searches of business premises in south Dublin, gardai seized approximately 965,000 Zopiclone and Alprazolam tablets – subject to analysis – valued at approximately 1.93 million euro.
A further search of a premises in Dublin city centre recovered more than 13,000 Zopiclone and Alprazolam tablets valued at over 26,000 euro.
Two further searches in the west and south of Dublin recovered approximately 4,500 euro in cash and evidence relating to the trafficking of drugs across the city.
The total value of the drugs recovered is 1,976,000 euro, gardai said.
Two men, aged in their 50s and 30s, have been arrested and are being held at separate Garda stations in the city under Section 2 Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996.
The man in his 30s has been charged and is due to appear in court in Dublin on Saturday.
Chief Superintendent Patrick McMenamin said: “This significant seizure of illicit drugs by the Dublin Crime Response Team was made as part of ongoing investigations to tackle street level sale and supply of drugs in Dublin city centre, and was made as part of Operation Citizen.
“This investigation has disrupted a major supply line of drugs into the city centre, and demonstrates An Garda Siochana’s commitment to keeping people safe and disrupting the criminal activities of those who cause harm and inflict misery in our communities.”