Gardaí assisted by the Garda National Drugs Unit swooped on a suspected cannabis factory in Freshford on Wednesday afternoon in a planned operation on a house at Sart.
They discovered that a house had been converted into a cannabis cultivation facility with sophisticated watering, heating and lighting systems installed for the intention of growing cannabis.
A number of cannabis plants at various stages of maturity were discovered and they are believed to have a potential street value of approximately €80,000 pending analysis.
Detective Sergeant Mick Lacey of Waterford Gardai who is heading up the investigation, told the Kilkenny Advertiser that three men were arrested aged 46, 49, and 53 years. Two of the arrested are of Irish origin while a third person is a foreign national. They are being detained under section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act at Waterford and Tramore Garda Stations. They can be held for up to seven days.
Later in the day in follow up searches in South Kilkenny and Waterford a small amount of cash and a small amount of harvested cannabis were recovered and a further arrest was made.
In this incident a 45-year-old female was detained and questioned. The four are still in custody and it is believed that the two incidents were linked.
This is not the first time that a facility of this description has been found in the Freshford area. Last year, a rented house in Barna in Freshford was discovered to have an even more elaborate operation in place.
Also in south Kilkenny in November 2011, two men were arrested in relation to the seizure of a large quantity of cannabis from what was described as a sophisticated cannabis cultivation factory at a house in Mooncoin.
Superintendent Mick Nevin said that the occurrence of the discovery of cannabis factory-type facilities has become more prominent in recent years and he called on communities to be aware of who is living in their areas — particularly in rural areas.
“People should keep an eye out for who is coming and going from rented houses and just be aware of who is in the neighbourhood. If you have any concerns, always give a call to the Garda confidential line and we can run a check,” he added.
