Men appear in court in connection to Kildare cocaine lab

THREE men were arrested in an operation where gardaí uncovered Ireland’s first ever cocaine extraction lab following a raid on a premises in Ballymore Eustace.

On Tuesday (23 June) as part of an intelligence-led joint operation involving the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) and Revenue Customs Service, 32kgs of suspected herbal cannabis, with an estimated value of €640,000, was seized following the intervention of two vehicles in the Kildare area.

Three males aged in their 30s and 40s were arrested at the scene on suspicion of drug tracking and are currently detained under the provisions of Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996 at Garda Stations in Kildare, although it is not yet known if any of the three have appeared before a court yet.

As part of this operation, a secondary search was carried out at a business premises in the Ballymore Eustace area, during which a fully operational cocaine production laboratory was discovered.

Estimates of the seized haul vary between 32 and 72kgs of cocaine. 

A garda spokesperson said on Monday that that the individuals involved had been brought before the court on charges.

The lab allegedly employed chemists employed by a Midlands-based crime group to extract the drug from household items, mainly charcoal.

This is a method favoured by Caribbean gangs to get the drug into Europe.

“This lab is the first one to be discovered in Ireland,” said a garda source.

“South American cartels are working directly with local criminal gangs and establishing labs, in an effort to diversify cocaine routes into Europe.” “They are prioritising this method due to the successes of law enforcement operations at the ports of entry and also in the maritime environment.

“The lab recovered in Ireland showed that they had built a capacity to extract cocaine.” 

Investigations are ongoing with the assistance of Forensic Science Ireland, based in Backweston outside of Celbridge.