Gardaí have put on display the haul of drugs and firearms seized in Limerick on Thursday night. More weapons were found in follow up searches carried out in Limerick city yesterday.
Heroin and cocaine worth an estimated €1 million, seven high-powered handguns, which included two machine-pistols, six stun guns, 1,000 rounds of ammunition and a number of silencers were seized in the raids across Limerick city on Thursday afternoon.
A cocaine press, €15,000 in cash and other drugs paraphernalia were also seized during raids on at least 10 premises by a search team of 50 gardaí.
A well-known Limerick criminal along with another man, who has not been linked to the local gang scene in the past, were arrested at two separate addresses in the city centre and on the south side of the city at about 4pm on Thursday.
Follow-up searches carried out yesterday morning in the St Mary's Park area of the city, uncovered more firearms.
Three rifles and a box of ammunition were found at the back of a house there shortly before lunchtime yesterday.
Two men were arrested at the scene and one was still being held for questioning last night under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.
The second man was arrested for attempting to obstruct gardaí during their search operations.
Meanwhile, the two men arrested in connection with Thursday's massive arms and drugs seizure were also still in Garda custody last night.
One of the the men, in his late thirties, is a known criminal who was recently released from prison and who has aligned himself to the Limerick gang once led by murdered crime boss Kieran Keane.
He was being held last night under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, which enables him to be detained for up to 72 hours.
The second man, who is also in his thirties, was known to gardaí but he had not been linked in the past to any of Limerick's main gangs.
He was being questioned under drug-trafficking legislation which enables gardaí to hold him for up to seven days.
Thursday's massive haul was the culmination of a two month intelligence-led operation against criminal gangs in the city.
Limerick gardaí were backed up by members of the National Surveillance Unit, who were drafted into the investigation under Operation Anvil, which has targeted organised gangs in Dublin for the past 12 months.
Supt Gerry Mahon described the drugs and firearms seizures, which were the largest outside of Dublin under the operation, as extremely significant.