A TEENAGER was being questioned by gardaí last night in connection with the latest discovery of a sophisticated cannabis-growing facility in a suburban house. The find was made in Baldoyle, north Dublin.
An 18 year old was detained for questioning after being arrested at the property, where 700 cannabis plants were discovered. Gardaí said the haul had an estimated street value of €400,000.
The house in which the plants were growing had been converted into a cannabis factory. It had been fitted with heat lamps and irrigation systems needed to grow the plants.
The house had also been insulated to keep the heat in and a well-organised feed system had been constructed. It is unclear how long the house was being used to grow the plants before gardaí raided the property on Saturday afternoon.
The man being questioned was arrested at the scene under section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act. He was taken to Swords Garda station where he was still being held last night.
The weekend find is the latest in a series of cannabis-growing houses found across the country in the past two to three years.
In the first number of cases, the properties being used were in the Border counties and were found to be controlled by Chinese gangs operating mainly in Northern Ireland who had moved south after the PSNI began raiding grow houses in the North.
However, over the past year, facilities found further south have been controlled by Irish gangs. Gardaí believe Irish gangs have hired Chinese criminals to teach them how to set up and maintain the grow houses.