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Man (20s) and three youths arrested after over €33,000 cannabis seized in Cork

Man (20s) and three youths arrested after over €33,000 cannabis seized in Cork

BreakingNews.ie15-05-2025

Four males, one in his 20s and three youths in their late teens, have been arrested after gardaí seized around €33,480 worth of cannabis during several searches in Cork city on Wednesday afternoon.
At around 4pm, gardaí stopped and searched a vehicle on the north side of the city and seized €12,680 worth of cannabis.
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A follow up search under warrent at a residence led to further seizures of around €20,800 worth of cannabis and other items.
The searches were part of ongoing operations targeting the sale and supply of drugs in Cork city, a garda statement said.
The four males were arrested and brought to garda stations in Cork city, where they are being detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking Act) 1996.
The seized drugs will be forwarded to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis and investigations are ongoing, gardaí said.

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EXCLUSIVE I got recruited by a county lines gang when I was just nine-years-old - I saw friends kidnapped and was repeatedly threatened with guns and knives - but I never thought I was being exploited
EXCLUSIVE I got recruited by a county lines gang when I was just nine-years-old - I saw friends kidnapped and was repeatedly threatened with guns and knives - but I never thought I was being exploited

Daily Mail​

time30 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

EXCLUSIVE I got recruited by a county lines gang when I was just nine-years-old - I saw friends kidnapped and was repeatedly threatened with guns and knives - but I never thought I was being exploited

A boy who was recruited by a vicious county line drugs gang at the age of just nine today reveals his harrowing story. The youngster, who lives in north-west England but asked to remain anonymous to avoid reprisals, said he was persuaded into joining the gang by an older member he considered his 'best mate'. At points, they made £2,000 a day smuggling cocaine and cannabis on trains using child couriers, with pupils in school uniform targeted for recruitment because they were considered less suspicious. The boy tells MailOnline of being repeatedly threatened with guns and knives by rivals and seeing a friend being kidnapped. Yet, given his age, he says he never realised he was being exploited until he managed to leave the gang after eight years. Now safe and in full-time work, his testimony is a rare insight into the inner workings of a county lines gang and the tactics they use to groom vulnerable youngsters. 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We were pulling in some serious money - £2,000 a day sometimes.' As the gang grew, more and more vulnerable children were recruited and made to traffic drugs. The boy said: 'My mate told one of his boys, ''I'm putting you on'' – meaning, you're going to do the legwork now - be the grafter, go out and sell. He'd give them a percent of the phone, a cut of the earnings, enough to keep them loyal. 'Then that boy would bring in his own mate, and so on. That's how they spread so quickly and unnoticed. 'This is where the exploitation begins, in the familiarity because we're all ''friends,'' no one questions it. When I was in it, I didn't think I was being exploited. I thought I was being helped. 'I had no money, and no prospects, so someone I trusted was showing me a way to survive. 'We used kids even younger than me - 14, 15 - in school uniform, because they didn't get stopped by police as much. We'd tell them to take off their blazers so their schools wouldn't get involved. 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Kyiv mayor tells Trump: Come and see my bombed-out city
Kyiv mayor tells Trump: Come and see my bombed-out city

Telegraph

time2 hours ago

  • Telegraph

Kyiv mayor tells Trump: Come and see my bombed-out city

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Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, announced that from next year the US will no longer purchase new arms for Ukraine. Mr Trump often appears ringside at the Ultimate Fighting Championship, hugging and posing for pictures with the blood-slicked winners. Could Mr Klitschko, who was known as Dr Ironfist in the ring, appeal to him this way? 'We actually fought in Taj Mahal Palace,' says the mayor, referring to a 2002 bout against Ray Mercer at the president's now-closed casino resort in Atlantic City. The fight, like 45 of his 47, ended in victory for Mr Klitschko, during a period of almost total dominance of the heavyweight division, alongside his brother, Vladimir. 'Trump was in the first row, I guess,' he says. 'And we have good discussion, good communication. I hope it's very soon I have a chance to talk personally to Trump and give him lots of arguments.' 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'I don't get much opportunity to practice any more,' says the one-time Los Angeles resident, now never dressed in anything but khaki. Then he is gone, with battles to be fought on all fronts.

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