€1.5m cannabis grow found at Kells business premises as two face court
The Kells drugs unit and the Regional Support Unit found a large cannabis cultivation operation of plants and herb worth an estimated €1.5 million at a business premises near Kells on the night of 19 April 2013. A man of 53 and a woman of 43 were arrested and were due before Ardee District Court on 22 April.
In an intelligence-led operation, the Kells Garda drugs unit assisted by the
Regional Support Unit searched a business premises in the Kells area on the night
of 19 April 2013.[1]They discovered a large cannabis cultivation operation of
plants and herb, subject to analysis, with an estimated street value of €1.5
million.[1][2]
Two arrested
A 53-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman were arrested at the scene and detained
at Kells Garda station under section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug
Trafficking) Act 1996.[1][2]Both were expected to appear before Ardee District
Court on the morning of 22 April 2013.[3]The Irish Times reported the Kells
seizure alongside a separate €2.5 million grow uncovered in Tuam the next day, a
different case recorded on its own.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Customs officers and gardaí searched business and residential properties in Cashel and Thurles, County Tipperary, and seized a large quantity of suspected cannabis-infused products. No weight, value, arrests or suspected offence were reported.
Gardaí found a cannabis grow house at a home in Ballymakeera, Co Cork, and seized 122 mature plants and about 1 kg of loose cannabis with a combined estimated value of €117,600. A man in his 40s was arrested.
Gardaí searching two homes in Ballynagore, Co Westmeath, on 31 December 2025 dismantled sophisticated cannabis growhouses and seized plants and herb worth an estimated €2.25 million; no arrests were reported in the accounts opened.
Gardai searching an industrial premises in Donegal town on 21 February 2024 found a large growhouse with 500 cannabis plants and 13.5 kg of cannabis herb, valued at about 631,500 euro. No arrests were made and the drugs were sent for forensic analysis.
