An investigation into international drug trafficking including the €50 million haul of drugs seized in Belgium in September, is underway by a number of different gardaí including Cavan/Monaghan gardaí, the Criminal Assets Bureau and the Garda National Drugs Unit.
The garda investigation team is based in Carrickmacross, in Co Monaghan. Gardaí believe a number of criminals based in the border region were involved in the drugs seized in Belgium.
As part of the investigation three men have been arrested since last Saturday; all are being held under the provisions of the Drug Trafficking Act, which allows for them to be detained for up to seven days.
Two are from Limerick and were arrested in dawn raids on Saturday, the third man was arrested in Dublin on Monday evening.
They are being questioned in Carrickmacross and Castleblayney and garda sources have confirmed that the investigation covers the intended importation of the drugs found in a lorry that had been abandoned in a lay-by near the Belgian-French border.
They were found under a false floor in the lorry and it is thought the driver panicked and abandoned the truck and its illicit cargo when he saw a police checkpoint on the road ahead.