TAOISEACH PRAISES GARDA FOR £8M DRUG SIEZURES

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has congratulated gardai on their weekend seizure
of drugs with an estimated street value of between £8 million and £9
million.

A 38yearold Dutch man and a 32yearold man from Ashbourne, Co Meath, are
being questioned by gardai about the seizure of 100kg of amphetamine
sulphate and 4kg of cocaine, found in a car stopped at Enfield, Co Meath,
at 7 p.m. on Friday.

The drugs arrived in recent days from Holland and are believed to have been
on their way to Dublin.

Gardai at Santry Station are also still questioning two 19yearold women
from Manchester who arrived on a flight from Barcelona yesterday morning.
They were arrested after officers found 33kg of cannabis in a suitcase.

Both operations stem from joint investigations between the Garda and other
EU police forces.

Also at the weekend, gardai in Navan, Co Meath, in a separate operation,
arrested two 19yearold men and seized amphetamines with a value estimated
at £10,000.

The Taoiseach described the Enfield seizure as one of the most significant
hauls ever in the State. He added: "Their (the Garda) action will deprive
the drug barons of further huge profits at the expense of those whose lives
are poisoned by the cancer of drug addiction.

"I want to urge the Garda and Customs authorities to maintain their
vigilance so as to continue to undermine the promoters of the drug trade
who are the purveyors of so much misery and unhappiness in this country."

The two men arrested in connection with the Enfield haul were last night
further remanded in Garda custody by a District Court judge in Kells. All
those arrested at the weekend can be held for questioning without charge or
appearance before a court for up to seven days.