Machine guns and €700,000 of drugs seized in neighbouring counties
A selection of the illegal firearms seized in Garda raids over the weekend. Source: Garda Press Office
TWO men are due before Athy District Court this morning after gardaí seized 11 firearms, including three machine guns, and more than €700,000 worth of drugs in a series of searches across the neighbouring counties of Laois and Kildare over the weekend.
The operation, carried out between 10 and 12 July, was led by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) under Operation Tara, and supported by gardaí from the Eastern Region, the Dublin Crime Response Team and the Emergency Response Unit.
Searches at six locations across the two counties recovered 11 military-grade firearms – three machine guns and eight pistols – along with ammunition and silencers. Gardaí also seized heroin, cocaine and cannabis with an estimated street value of more than €700,000.
Two men, both in their 40s, were arrested and detained at Garda stations in the Midlands under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007. Both have since been charged and are expected to appear before a sitting of Athy District Court on Tuesday morning 14 July.
The seized firearms will be sent for technical examination by the Ballistics Section of the Garda Technical Bureau, while the drugs will be forwarded to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis. Investigations are ongoing.
Assistant commissioner Angela Willis, of Organised and Serious Crime, said the seizure represented a significant disruption of organised criminal activity and demonstrated An Garda Síochána’s commitment to protecting communities from serious and organised crime.
She said the recovery of military-grade firearms, handguns and substantial quantities of drugs had removed dangerous weapons and harmful substances from circulation, reducing the threat to the public and preventing significant criminal profits from being generated.
The weekend seizure formed part of a wider week of activity under Operation Tara, during which 11 people were arrested and more than €9 million worth of controlled drugs was seized in operations across the country.
Operation Tara, launched in July 2021, is an enhanced national anti-drugs strategy aimed at disrupting, dismantling and prosecuting drug trafficking networks at international, national and local level.
