Six men have been arrested in a series of raids on houses and lock-up facilities this morning in the south east.
The searches, which started before dawn at 20 locations, were part of an on-going Garda operation targeting gangs involved in making drugs.
Six tablet-making machines were seized which have the capacity to make hundreds of thousands of controlled and illegal drugs.
More than 60 gardaí took part in the searches in counties Kilkenny, Carlow, Tipperary and Waterford.
The gardaí were assisted by customs officials and members of the Health Product Regulatory Authority.
The six men arrested are all in their late 20s and early 30s and are all from Kilkenny city.
Gardaí said the searches are related to other raids in the past year in Co Tipperary and Co Limerick in which drugs with a street value of hundreds of thousands of euro were found.
The six men are being held at various garda stations in the south east.
