In an intelligence-led operation, officers of the Tramore drugs unit with the armed support unit searched an industrial premises at Waterford Airport Business Park at 6pm on Thursday 18 April 2019.[1][2] Inside they found a substantial grow house, with more than 1,000 cannabis plants at various stages of growth seized on the night.[1][2]
A full examination of the site later put the total at 1,644 plants, with an estimated street value of more than €1.3 million.[1] Two Vietnamese men aged 32 and 43 were arrested at the scene and held at Tramore Garda Station under section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act.[1][2] Both were charged and were due before a sitting of Waterford District Court at 9.30am on 20 April 2019.[1]
Industrial grow
The Waterford unit is a typical industrial-estate grow: a rented commercial premises converted with lighting and irrigation to hide a large plant count in a small footprint.[1][2] The same week brought several such finds across Ireland, a sign of how far cultivation had moved indoors.[2]
