Police seize aircraft and 120kg of cocaine worth £7.1 million

The Irish Gardaí police have seized drugs including 120kg of cocaine, thought to be worth £7 million, as well as an aircraft.

Officers in the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau alongside other national units intercepted two vehicles supported shortly after 6pm on Thursday (4 August) at two locations in the Lough Owel area of County Westmeath.

The interception uncovered 120 kilogrammes of cocaine with an estimated street value of £7 million as well as several communications devices.

The operation continued with follow up searches in residential premises in Naas, County Kildare and Waterford city and at a commercial airfield in County Longford, where a small aircraft was also seized.

Following the searches two men, 54 and 40, have been arrested for drug trafficking and remain in custody.

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Following the operation, Assistant Commissioner Justin Kelly, the Head of Organised and Serious Crime, said: "This operation has prevented a considerable quantity of dangerous drugs from making it onto our streets and causing significant harm to our communities.

"An Garda Síochána is committed, under Operation Tara, to disrupting and dismantling the organised criminal networks who profit from drug trafficking and impact so negatively on our society."

Gardaí added in a statement: "Investigations are ongoing."

The Gardaí have seized over €37 million (£31.2 million) worth of drugs this year already.

Another big drugs haul in recent days involved a couple from Wales, who have been sentenced to more than two years in prison after selling cocaine to help fund expensive holidays and designer clothes.

Katie Barrington, 29, and Trenae Greenland, 30, were caught by police by chance after officers spotted them sitting in a Volkswagen Golf parked outside a block of flats.

The pair, who have been together for five years, were already earning £60,000-a-year from their day jobs before they began dealing cocaine in the evenings and on weekends.

Fryer said police analysed one of the phones and found references to how much money the duo were making by drug dealing, claiming they earned 'upwards of £100 a day on a weekday and £200 on a weekend' by selling cocaine as and when they wanted.

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Both Greenland and Barrington admitted possession of cocaine with intent to supply, being concerned in the supply of cocaine, and possession of criminal property.

The two women were each been jailed for two years and eight months. They also face a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing to repay the money they made from drug dealing.