Gardaí raided a commercial premises at the Greenogue Industrial Estate in Newcastle, County Dublin, on the morning of Friday 25 July 2008 as part of Operation Vacuum, a months-long Garda crackdown on domestic industrial-scale cannabis growing.[1][2] The searches were carried out by the Clondalkin drugs unit with the Garda National Drugs Unit and other national units.[1] Officers found a sophisticated grow using accelerated-growth technology with artificial heat treatment and seized 655 mid-life cannabis plants valued at about €200,000, along with forged documents tied to the illegal operation.[1][2]
Three Irish men aged 24, 26 and 52 were arrested at the site and detained at Clondalkin station under section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act.[1][2] Further searches in Navan, Clonee, Ballymun and Portarlington netted another 40 plants and growing paraphernalia, bringing the estimated total seizure value to about €250,000.[1] The three men were released without charge that evening, with files prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions, and Gardaí said the operation was ongoing.[1][2]
