LAST UPDATE | 24 Jul

Around 900 rounds of 9mm and .223 ammunition were also seized by gardaí.

TWO MEN IN their 30s who had been arrested after gardaí seized 18 firearms and around 900 rounds of ammunition during an operation targeting organised crime in Co Louth last week have now been charged.

They are expected to appear before the Criminal Courts of Justice, Dublin, at 4:30pm today.

At around 2pm last Friday, 19 July, the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB), supported by the Garda Emergency Response Unit, carried out a search of a premises on the outskirts of Ardee, Co. Louth.

Gardaí seized six AR-15 assault rifles and 12 semi-automatic 9mm handguns.

Around 900 rounds of 9mm and .223 ammunition were also discovered and seized by gardaí.

A number of follow-on searches were later carried out at several properties in the county, with assistance provided by gardaí from the Louth Divisional Crime Unit, Louth Drug Units, as well as the Garda Dog Unit.  

The two men were arrested on suspicion of participation in the activities of a criminal organisation to facilitate firearms trafficking.

Both men were detained at a Garda Station in Louth.

Speaking on Friday, Assistant Commissioner for Organised and Serious Crime, Justin Kelly described the seizure as being “particularly significant”.

“These would have undoubtedly been used to maim, kill and intimidate those in communities across Ireland,” said Kelly.

He added that weapons like those seized are the “lifeblood of organised criminal groups, who often use violence as part of their drug trafficking operations”.

He commended the work of all gardaí involved and said intelligence-led operations like these “demonstrate our determination to make Ireland a hostile environment for organised criminal groups to operate”.