2.7M CANNABIS HAUL WAS FOR NORTH, GARDAI BELIEVE

CANNABIS with a street value of 2.7m has been seized by gardai after a
lorry was stopped and searched in north Co Dublin yesterday.

More than 200kg of the resin was packed into the container lorry which was
stopped by members of the National Drugs Unit and local gardai following a
surveillance operation.

A man in his 40s was arrested after the lunchtime seizure in the village of
Garristown. It is the second large cannabis find in the area in recent
weeks. 2.5m worth was discovered near Ashbourne last month.

The arrested man was taken to Ashbourne garda station and is being held
under the Drug Trafficking Act.

The cannabis is believed to have been destined for sale in the North, where
laws on possession of the drug are to be relaxed. British Home Secretary
David Blunkett has announced his intention to downgrade cannabis from a
class B to class C drug.

Anyone caught in possession of small quantities of the drug will only
receive a caution under the new laws.

The British government's former drug's tsar, Keith Hellawell, has
criticised the move.

Mr Blunkett is set to reclassify the drug in an attempt to free police
resources to combat dealers peddling harder narcotics.