GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING the activities of organised crime gangs running cannabis-growing operations have arrested eight people and seized cannabis plants valued at several hundred thousand euro.
The find, at two houses in Co Leitrim, is the latest in a series of Garda operations in which Chinese criminals have been detected growing large crops of cannabis in rented houses in quiet locations close to the Border.
Seven men and a woman are being questioned about the Leitrim find.
The group are all Chinese nationals and were detained when local gardaí and members of the Garda National Drug Unit searched two houses in Drumshambo late on Tuesday night.
Rows of cannabis plants were growing in rooms converted with heating and watering systems.
The walls and windows had been crudely insulated to prevent the heat from escaping and in a bid to conceal the smell from the operation.
The equipment was being run from a system illegally hooked up to the power mains.
Gardaí believe those behind the operation did not want to run the equipment off the house’s power systems because of the expense and for fear of alerting the landlords, who were unaware of the operation.
Between 800 and 1,000 plants in varying stages of maturity were found at the two houses. The eight people arrested were all detained when the properties were raided just after 9pm on Tuesday.
Four of the suspects, including the woman, are being held at Sligo Garda station while the other four are being held at stations in Carrick-on-Shannon and Manorhamilton.
All eight are being held under section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act. The plants seized have been taken away for examination and are believed to be worth at least €200,000 and possibly considerably more.
Gardaí believe the Leitrim facility was being run by criminals working for a Chinese triad gang known as the Wo Shing Wo gang. One of the eight arrested is believed to be a senior member of the gang. All are resident in the Republic.
The Leitrim searches were carried out as part of Operation Nitrogen. It has been established to detected cannabis “grow houses”.
Over the past two years a large number of such houses have been found, usually not far from the Border.
Chinese gangs moved into Northern Ireland a number of years ago after the police in England and Scotland detected their activities and put specialist operations in place. When the PSNI adopted similar tactics some of the gangs moved into the Republic.
However, gardaí quickly began detecting their activities.
In Monaghan last October gardaí found plants valued at over €400,000 at a house in Readuff near Castleblayney.
That find was made as part of a co-ordinated raid with the PSNI and a similar facility was found at the same time in Culloville, Co Armagh. The house in Readuff was set up in an identical fashion to the two facilities discovered in Crumlin-Threemilehouse and Aghataminy, both in Co Monaghan, in August.
There have been similar operations in Roscommon and Longford where those arrested have been Chinese or Vietnamese.
However, a number of Irish criminals have also been detected growing the drugs.
In January, in a warehouse in the Hollyhill area of Cork city, a cannabis growing facility being run by locals was discovered along with plants valued at €400,000.
Last November plants valued at €120,000 were found in a grow house in Navan, Co Meath, linked to a Dublin drugs gang.
