20kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of €1.4m was seized during a raid in Celbridge, Co Kildare, last night.
The raid at an apartment at Simmonscourt Manor was one of a number of searches conducted in the Celbridge area, and in Clondalkin in Dublin, last night.
They were carried out as part of an intelligence-led operation by the Garda National Drugs Unit targeting a drug-dealing gang operating in west Dublin and Kildare.
The operation also uncovered significant paraphernalia relating to the mixing and processing of cocaine, including mixing agents, scales, blenders, a pressing machine and a vacuum packing machine.
Gardaí say the disruption of this mixing factory is a significant development.
A 21-year-old man was arrested at the scene of the seizure and is being held at Naas Garda Station under Section 2 of The Drug Trafficking Act.
