A man in his 40s who was arrested by gardaí on Monday following a raid on a sophisticated cannabis grow house in Ballymakeera has been charged and appeared at Mallow District Court yesterday.

As part of Operation Tara and ongoing investigations targeting the sale and supply of controlled drugs & organised crime, gardaí attached to the Cork North West Divisional Drugs Unit, accompanied by the Cork South West Divisional Drugs Unit conducted a search of a domestic residence,where cannabis plants valued at almost €100,000 were seized.

A Garda spokesperson said that during the course of the operation, gardaí uncovered a sophisticated cannabis grow house at the house.

'Investigating gardaí seized 122 suspected mature cannabis plants with an estimated value of €97,600, approximately 1 kilogram of suspected loose cannabis material with an estimated value of €20,000, and drug paraphernalia.

The seized substances will be sent to Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) for analysis and gardaí confirmed that investigations are ongoing.