Gardaí in Cork have arrested five men for questioning following the discovery of €640,000 worth of cannabis in a growhouse in north Cork yesterday afternoon.
Detectives arrested five Chinese nationals aged in their late 20s and early 30s when they raided a warehouse in Rathcormac near Fermoy at around 4pm.
Officers found about 800 cannabis plants – each with an estimated street value on maturity of €800 euro – in various states of development at the warehouse.
Garda sources described it as a highly sophisticated operation . All five men were arrested under drug trafficking legislation which allows them to be held for up to seven days .
Two of the suspects are being questioned in Midleton Garda Station, two in Cobh and the fifth is being questioned in Fermoy.
The operation was carried out as part of an investigation into the cultivation and distribution of cannabis and other controlled drugs in the Munster region.
The operation was carried out by members of the National Drugs Unit and the North Cork Divisional Drugs Unit, backed up the Cork City Divisional Drugs unit.