Gardaí are searching for a number of foreign nationals following the discovery of Ireland's first cocaine laboratory in Kilkenny.
Members of the technical bureau from Garda Headquarters in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, were last night carrying out a detailed forensic examination of a house in the centre of the town.
Gardaí have arrested a 38-year-old man under Section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act and he is being detained at Kilkenny Garda Station.
He is understood to be of African origin.
A Garda source said that the drugs were transported into Ireland through clothing, which was either worn by someone travelling into the country or transported as freight through Rosslare or Dublin port.
The sophisticated operation involved the clothing being impregnated with cocaine, in liquid form, in the country of origin, probably in Asia or North Africa.
The clothing was then allowed to dry with the water evaporating, leaving pure cocaine in the fabric.
When the clothing reached its destination, the clothing was soaked in a solution of chemicals.
The cocaine was then extracted from this solution in the house in Kilkenny.
Cocaine has been available on the streets of Kilkenny, in small amounts, for the last year.
The gardaí are viewing this latest development with grave concern and think the product may have been prepared for the lucrative Dublin market.
They have not yet established how much cocaine is involved or the purity of the drug.
The three storey house at the centre of the investigation, on the corner of Greenshill and New Road, Kilkenny, is under 24 hour Garda surveillance.
The house overlooks the River Nore and is just yards from Smithwicks Brewery, which is located at the other side of the river.
The discovery of the cocaine laboratory was the result of a covert Garda operation involving local officers and detectives as well as members of the National Drugs Unit.
Local people are totally shocked by the discovery in a quiet residential area of Kilkenny.
In recent years cocaine use has become a major concern for gardaí. Seizures of the drug are up 500 per cent to date in 2003 compared to the same period last year.
The outgoing Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, has said its widespread use is now of "particular concern". A major Garda research project is currently underway to assess the extent of the drug's use.
It has spread much farther and faster than heroin because most users see it as a designer drug with none of the traditional stigma of heroin use.
Much of it originates in South America and enters the State through Spain and the Netherlands.
Most seizures are in Dublin where cocaine use is most widespread. The trade is also fuelling violence as young gangs vie for a cut of the lucrative trade.