By Eoin English and Cormac O’KeeffeGardaí have disrupted a significant international drug smuggling network after raiding a sophisticated cocaine lab in West Cork. The gang was being monitored locally by Cork drug units, nationally by the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and Customs, and internationally by the EU’s Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre. Gardaí have also conducted a number of follow-up searches of properties in Cork and Dublin, with the postal network and possible links to South America also being explored. When gardaí entered the Bantry home, they discovered what one senior garda described as an extensive and sophisticated lab set-up. However, a garda source said this is the first time such a cocaine lab operation has been found in the Cork area.He described it as a significant blow to the distribution network of those involved in cocaine smuggling into Ireland.

Source: Evening echo November 29, 2017 09:22 UTC