Ireland Two men charged with drug trafficking and money laundering in Kilkenny
On 23 September 2026, an intelligence-led operation under Operation Tara by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, with regional units from the Northwestern, Eastern and Dublin Metropolitan Regions, carried out searches across Kilkenny, Dublin and other parts of the country. The searches resulted in the seizure of cocaine with an estimated street value of €1.6 million, diamorphine worth €529,000, a small quantity of psilocin, €34,300 in cash and several vehicles. Four men, aged in their 20s, 40s and 60s, were arrested following the seizure. Two of the men were charged with drug trafficking and money laundering offences and appeared before Kilkenny District Court and the Criminal Courts of Justice District Court, while the other two remain in detention at Garda stations in the Dublin Metropolitan Region.
- Reportednot reported
- Arrestednot reported
- Charged24 Sep
5 reports - In court24 Sep
- Verdict
- Sentenced
Key facts
consolidated from all reports- What happened
- Four men aged in their 20s, 40s and 60s were arrested following a series of searches.
- Cocaine with an estimated street value of €1.6 million, diamorphine worth €529,000, a small quantity of psilocin, €34,300 in cash and several vehicles were seized.
- Where
- The searches took place across Kilkenny, Dublin and other parts of the country.
- When
- The operation was conducted on 23 September 2026.
- Investigation
- The operation was an intelligence-led probe under Operation Tara by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau in collaboration with regional units from the Northwestern, Eastern and Dublin Metropolitan Regions.
- The other two men remain in detention at Garda stations in the Dublin Metropolitan Region.
- Other details
- The operation targeted regional drug trafficking networks.
- Charges
- Two of the men were charged with drug trafficking and money laundering offences.
- In court
- The two charged men appeared before Kilkenny District Court and the Criminal Courts of Justice District Court.
56 statements extracted from the articles
- whatFour men were arrested after a series of searches (dublinlive.ie)
- whatThe men arrested were aged in their 20s, 40s and 60s (dublinlive.ie)
- whatFour men were arrested following the seizure of drugs worth in excess of €2 million. (irishtimes.com)
- whatCocaine with an estimated value of €1.6 million was seized. (irishtimes.com)
- whatDiamorphine with an estimated value of €529,000 was seized. (irishtimes.com)
- whatSeveral vehicles were seized. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe four arrested men were aged in their 20s, 40s and 60s. (irishtimes.com)
- whatFour men were arrested after drugs with an estimated street value of over €2 million were seized. (rte.ie)
- whatThe four men were aged in their 20s, 40s and 60s and were arrested after several searches, with vehicles also seized. (rte.ie)
- whatThe seizure included cocaine with an estimated street value of €1.6 million. (rte.ie)
- whatThe seizure included diamorphine with an estimated street value of €529,000. (rte.ie)
- whatA small quantity of psilocin (magic mushrooms) was also seized. (rte.ie)
- what€34,300 in cash was seized during the search. (rte.ie)
- whatFour men were arrested following the seizure of drugs and cash (irishmirror.ie)
- whatHeroin with an estimated street value of €529,000 was seized (irishmirror.ie)
- whatA number of vehicles were seized during the operation (irishmirror.ie)
- whatThe four arrested men were males aged in their 20s, 40s and 60s (irishmirror.ie)
- whereThe searches took place across the country (dublinlive.ie)
- whereThe operation took place in Kilkenny, Dublin and other parts of the country (irishmirror.ie)
- whenThe operation was conducted on 23 September 2026 (garda.ie, irishmirror.ie)
- whenThe drugs were seized on Wednesday. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationThe detention of the other two males is ongoing at garda stations in the Dublin Metropolitan Region (garda.ie)
- investigationInvestigations are ongoing (garda.ie, kilkennypeople.ie, dublinlive.ie)
- investigationThe operation was an intelligence-led operation under Operation Tara, carried out by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau. (kilkennypeople.ie)
- investigationThe operation was a combined effort between GNDOCB and regional Garda units from the Northwestern, Eastern, and Dublin Metropolitan Regions (dublinlive.ie)
- investigationThe operation was carried out by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationGardaí from the Northwestern Region, Eastern Region and Dublin Metropolitan Region were involved. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationThe two other men remain detained at Garda stations in Dublin. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationThe seizures were carried out under Operation Tara. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationThe operation was conducted by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau with regional garda units. (rte.ie)
- investigationThe operation was conducted under Operation Tara, a long-running nationwide Garda crackdown on drugs gangs (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationThe operation was conducted by the GNDOCB in collaboration with regional units from the Northwestern, Eastern and Dublin Metropolitan Regions (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationTwo men remained in custody at Garda stations in the Dublin Metropolitan Region (irishmirror.ie)
- chargeTwo males were charged with drug trafficking and money laundering offences (garda.ie)
- chargeTwo of the men have been charged with drug trafficking and money laundering offences. (kilkennypeople.ie, rte.ie)
- chargeTwo of the men were charged with drug trafficking and money laundering offences (dublinlive.ie)
- chargeTwo of the four men were charged with drug trafficking and money-laundering offences. (irishtimes.com)
- chargeTwo men were charged with drug trafficking and money laundering offences (irishmirror.ie)
- courtThe two charged males appeared before Kilkenny District Court and the Criminal Courts of Justice District Court (garda.ie)
- courtThe two charged men have appeared before Kilkenny District Court and the Criminal Courts of Justice District Court. (kilkennypeople.ie, rte.ie)
- courtThe two charged men appeared before Kilkenny District Court and the Criminal Courts of Justice District Court (dublinlive.ie)
- courtThe two charged men appeared before Kilkenny District Court and the Criminal Courts of Justice. (irishtimes.com)
- courtTwo men appeared before Kilkenny District Court and the Criminal Courts of Justice District Court (irishmirror.ie)
- otherThe operation was conducted by GNDOCB in collaboration with regional units from the Northwestern, Eastern, and Dublin Metropolitan Regions (garda.ie)
- otherThe operation targeted regional drug trafficking networks (garda.ie, kilkennypeople.ie, dublinlive.ie)
- otherFour males aged in their 20s, 40s, and 60s were arrested (garda.ie)
- otherA number of vehicles were seized (garda.ie, dublinlive.ie)
- otherCocaine with an estimated street value of €1.6 million was seized (garda.ie, kilkennypeople.ie, dublinlive.ie, irishmirror.ie)
- otherDiamorphine with an estimated street value of €529,000 was seized (garda.ie, kilkennypeople.ie, dublinlive.ie)
- otherA small quantity of psilocin (magic mushrooms) was seized (garda.ie, kilkennypeople.ie, dublinlive.ie, irishmirror.ie)
- otherCash totalling €34,300 was seized (garda.ie, kilkennypeople.ie, dublinlive.ie, irishtimes.com, irishmirror.ie)
- otherThe seizure followed the seizure of a number of vehicles. (kilkennypeople.ie)
- otherFour male arrests were made, aged in their 20s, 40s and 60s. (kilkennypeople.ie)
- otherThe other two men are being detained at garda stations in the Dublin Metropolitan Region. (kilkennypeople.ie)
- otherThe other two men are being held at Garda stations in the Dublin area (dublinlive.ie)
- otherThe other two men remain in detention in garda stations in Dublin. (rte.ie)
The reporting
newest first- 25 Sep2026Gardai arrest four men after officers seize drugs and cash worth more than €2m
Reports the initial arrest and charging of four men in a multi-region Operation Tara operation conducted by the GNDOCB with regional units.
accused, 20s, maleaccused, 40s, maleaccused, 60s, maleaccused, male - 24 Sep2026Four men arrested, drugs valued over €2 million seized
Two of the four men have now been charged and have appeared before Kilkenny District Court and the Criminal Courts of Justice District Court. The other two remain in detention in Dublin garda stations. The article gives the drug values and cash seized.
suspect, malesuspect, malesuspect, malesuspect, male - 24 Sep2026Four arrested after seizure of drugs including cocaine and heroin worth more than €2m
Original Garda statement reporting the arrests, charges and court appearances following the Operation Tara multi-region drug seizure.
suspect, malesuspect, malesuspect, malesuspect, male - 24 Sep2026Four arrests made as Gardaí seize €1.6m of cocaine in drug bust
Confirms the operation was a combined effort between GNDOCB and regional units from the Northwestern, Eastern, and Dublin Metropolitan Regions targeting regional drug trafficking networks. Confirms two men appeared before Kilkenny District Court and the Criminal Courts of Justice, and the other two are held at Garda stations in the Dublin area.
suspect, 20s, malesuspect, 40s, malesuspect, 60s, malesuspect, male - 24 Sep2026BREAKING: Kilkenny link to seven-figure drug seizure as four arrested
First report of this seizure and arrests. No existing case matches it. The date is inferred from the article's 'yesterday' and its 24 September publication date.
suspect, malesuspect, malesuspect, malesuspect, male - 24 Sep202624/09/2026 Operation Tara - Seizure of €1.6 million Worth of Cocaine, Four Arrests, 23rd September 2026
Garda press release confirming the specific courts (Kilkenny District Court and Criminal Courts of Justice) where the two charged males appeared, and that the other two remain in detention at DMR garda stations.
suspect, 20s, malesuspect, 40s, malesuspect, 60s, malesuspect, 60s, male