Woman charged after 20kg cannabis seized on M7 in Laois
Gardaí stopped a car on the M7 at Portlaoise and seized about 20kg of cannabis valued at about €280,000. The female driver was arrested, charged under Section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act and remanded for a February 2027 court date.
🇮🇪 M7 at Clondouglas, Portlaoise, County Laois · Ireland
On 4 November 2026, members of the Laois Drugs Unit and the Laois Roads Policing
Unit stopped and searched a car on the M7 at Clondouglas, Portlaoise.[1][2][3]The
woman, who is aged in her early 40s, was arrested and taken to Abbeyleix Garda
Station for questioning.[4]She appeared before a sitting of Portlaoise
District Court on Thursday, November 5, having been charged with an offence
under Section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977/84.[1][2]A woman in her 20s has
appeared in court after a cannabis seizure valued at €280,000.[5]
Officers found about 20kg of cannabis inside the vehicle during the search.[1][2]Gardaí valued the cannabis at about €280,000.[4][3]The stop happened at around
8.15pm on Wednesday evening between the toll plaza and Junction 18 on the M7 at
Portlaoise.[4]The search was conducted under Section 23 of the Misuse of
Drugs Act 1977/84.[1]Gardaí said no further comment would be made because the
matter is now before the courts.[1][2]
The accused was named as 39-year-old Tracy Norton of The Burrow, Knockrigg, Grange Con, County Wicklow.[3]She was charged with possessing drugs for her own use as well as possessing drugs for sale or supply.[3]When the charges were put to her, she made no reply.[3]Judge Andrew Cody heard there was no Garda objection to bail.[3]Judge Cody remanded Ms Norton on her own bail to the 22 February sitting for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions, on conditions that she sign on twice weekly at her local Garda station, provide a mobile contact number and have no contact with two unnamed individuals.[3]Free legal aid was assigned to solicitor Barry Fitzgerald.[3]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
The Leinster Express reported the arrested woman as aged in her early 40s, while Midlands 103 and Ireland Live describe the driver as a woman in her 20s; this report counts one arrested and charged person and treats the age as unresolved.
Midlands 103 and Ireland Live both report the case next coming before the courts on 22 February 2027; no later stage of the case has been reported.
The headline values the cannabis at €290,000 while the body says €280,000; this result uses the body's €280,000 figure already in the report.
This source gives the next court date only as the 22 February sitting, without a year.
Duane Costello (38) pleaded guilty to importing cannabis worth €184,000 to his Loughlinstown, Dublin address in January 2025. He had paid the import duties but refused the drugs when gardaí attempted a controlled delivery, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.
Two brothers were charged after Gardaí and Revenue seized an estimated €2 million in HHC and THC products, including more than 100,000 vapes, from Candy Cloud shops and other premises in four counties. Forensic testing is still under way to confirm how many vapes are illegal, and the case was adjourned to February 2027.
Daniel Kelleher, 25, pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to possessing 273 kg of cannabis for sale or supply at Arderrin Way, The Glen. Gardai valued the vacuum-packed haul at €546,000 and he was remanded for sentencing in February 2027.
Gardai charged a woman in her 20s after seizing cannabis valued at €784,000 from a vehicle stopped in Clonsaugh and a house searched in Coolock on 2 November 2026. She was due to appear before Court 4 of the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin on the morning of 4 November 2026 as investigations continued.