Pictured: Two Dublin men appear in court over mammoth €2.4m drug seizure

A court was told undercover officers found some €300,000 worth of cannabis in the bags, with the rest discovered in a van in a follow-up search.

Edward Farrell (48) and Kevin Murphy (40), both fathers-of-five, appeared in Dublin District Court charged with possession of cannabis for sale or supply.

Judge Paula Murphy granted bail despite garda objections and remanded the accused in custody until they are able to take it up.

Mr Farrell is charged with possession of the cannabis at his home at Castlefield Way, Knocklyon, and at Mountain Park, Tallaght on February 20.

Mr Murphy is accused of having the drug at his home at Mountain Park, Tallaght on the same day.

Detective Garda Gavin Curran said Mr Farrell was charged at Rathfarnham station at 4.38pm yesterday and made no reply to any of the counts after caution.

Detective Grarda Val Russell gave evidence of Mr Murphy’s arrest, charge and caution at the same station, at 4.19pm yesterday. In reply to one charge, he said: “I dealt with the garda” and to the other: “I have given my evidence to the prosecuting garda.”

The gardai alleged Mr Farrell and Mr Murphy were “caught red-handed”.

The court heard officers from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau carried out an operation targeting the sale and supply of drugs in the Tallaght area on Monday.

It was alleged that Mr Farrell was seen exiting the rear of a white Ford Transit van parked in his driveway at Castlefield Way. He removed three large bin liner bags from the van and placed them in the rear of a BMW X5 that was also parked in his driveway, it was alleged.

He then left in the BMW while kept under garda observation. He was seen arriving at Mr Murphy’s address at Mountain Park, where the two men allegedly removed the three bin liners from the vehicle and placed them in the rear of a BMW 3-Series that was parked in the driveway, the court heard.

Gardai staged an intervention and the two were arrested. One bag in plain sight in the driveway contained 5kg of cannabis. The other two bags in the boot of the 3-Series contained 10kg of the drug.

Mr Farrell’s home was searched and approximately 105kg of cannabis was found in the transit van, it was alleged.

The value of the drugs in Mr Murphy’s case was €300,000, while Mr Farrell's charges related to both locations, with a combined total estimated value of €5.4 million.

Mr Farrell’s solicitor William Cadogan said his client, who was unemployed, had “serious” ties to this jurisdiction. He had five children from a number of relationships and his present partner also had more children he supported.

“A lot of people depend on him,” Mr Cadogan said.

Applying for bail for Mr Murphy, his barrister Tara McLoughlin said the value of the drugs was subject to analysis, which had not been done yet.

Her client also had five children and strong links to the jurisdiction.

Judge Murphy said the accused were presumed innocent and granted bail subject to stringent conditions. They must sign on daily at their local garda stations, surrender their passports and have no contact with each other. Mr Farrell is to live at another Dublin address provided.

Bail was set in Mr Farrell’s own bond of €50,000, of which €10,000 is to be lodged in cash, with an independent surety of €50,000 to be approved by the court.

Mr Murphy’s own bail is €20,000 with €2,000 in cash and a €30,000 surety.

The judge refused defence requests to reduce the bail amounts, given the “very significant value” of drugs allegedly involved in the case.

Mr Farrell was remanded in custody to appear in Cloverhill District Court on February 28, while Mr Murphy was remanded to Friday, February 24.