GARDAI SAY FIND OF DRUGS A BLOW TO CORK DEALER

Gardai in Cork say the discovery of a pounds 1 million cannabis cache in a
remote forestry plantation in the north of the county is a significant blow
to one of the city's main drug suppliers.

Members of the Cork Drugs Squad, together with gardai from Macroom,
uncovered 60 kg of cannabis resin - worth an estimated pounds 600,000 - on
Thursday night in the conifer forest at Glenaknouckana near Nadd off the
main Cork-Kanturk Road.

The find, made with the assistance of a sniffer dog, followed the discovery
nearby of 40 kg of the drug worth pounds 400,000 earlier on Thursday. The
plantation covers vast tracts of bogland in the Boggeragh mountains.

The drugs, packed in 1 kg amounts, were hidden in five cardboard boxes
which were wrapped in black plastic and partially buried in an embankment
in the forest. Garda were alerted to the cache by a man walking his dog in
the area.

They believe it was "a mother dump" belonging to a man in his 30s living in
the Blarney area who is one of the biggest suppliers of drugs in Cork city.
The drugs were in good condition but may have been there for some months.

A Garda source said: "The typical pattern of dispersal is to stash the
drugs in amounts of between 10 and 20 kilos so this is a much bigger find"
which would have been used to draw supplies for smaller dumps around the
city. "It's from these smaller dumps then that he would have supplied his
dealers and distributors in the city." He said the location, although
remote, was well marked out with signs to help gang members recover the drug.

Garda from the Cork divisional drugs squad in Anglesea Street removed the
drugs following forensic examination at the scene and yesterday put the 100
kg haul on display at Anglesea Street. No arrests have been made in
connection with the find.

The Nadd find follows a series of similar drug discoveries in the greater
Cork area over the past 18 months with two seizures totalling almost pounds
1 million in Knock raha in east Cork and Kilumney. Four men were arrested.

On Thursday, a Carrigaline drug-dealer, Noel Twomey, was jailed for 12
years after he was caught in a similar surveillance operation. Gardai had
gone under cover in woodland and spotted him collecting a bag containing
pounds 5,000 worth of amphetamines.