3 HELD AFTER DRUGS WORTH #2 1/2M SEIZED

Three men, two from Dublin and one from Co Kildare, were being questioned
by gardam last night after the seizure of cannabis resin worth up to #2.5
million yesterday morning.

The three were arrested at Coolfore, Ashbourne, Co Meath, as the drugs were
being transferred from a 40ft truck to a car.

The men were taken to Ashbourne Garda station where they were detained
under the Drug Trafficking Act and questioned by members of the National
Drugs Unit.

A Garda spokesman said yesterday's seizure followed an ongoing operation by
the National Drugs Unit and the men were arrested just after 8 a.m. The man
from Co Kildare is in his 30s, while one of the others is understood to be
28 years old.

The slabs of cannabis resin weighed 200250 kilos, giving them a street
value estimated at between #2 and #2.5 million.

This is the latest in a series of drug seizures in the Meath-Kildare area
by the National Drugs Unit. In February amphetamines and cocaine worth #5.3
million were seized near Celbridge, Co Kildare.

Two men subsequently appeared before a special sitting of Kells District
Court where they were charged with possession of the drugs and possession
with intent to supply.

Yesterday's haul brings the value of cannabis seized by the Garda so far
this year to more than #9 million. Among the major finds were:

March 26th: #100,000 worth of cannabis seized by the Garda National Drugs
Unit in a car at Swords Road in Dublin.

March 19th: #300,000 worth of cannabis resin seized in Dublin.

March 6th: #400,000 worth of cannabis seized in a car in Tallaght, Dublin.

February 6th: #200,000 worth of cannabis resin seized in a car on the
Portlaoise by-pass.

January 31st: #4.2 million of cannabis resin seized at Kilcoran, near
Cahir, Co Tipperary, in Operation Blackwater.

January 28th: #300,000 worth of cannabis discovered in woodland area near
Midleton, Co Cork.

January 8th: #500,000 worth of cannabis resin seized by gardam and Customs
officials in north Dublin.

January 6th: #250,000 worth of cannabis resin found in a van at a routine
checkpoint near the KCR in Dublin.

January 3rd: #200,000 worth of cannabis seized in a hotel on the Navan Road
in Dublin.