THREE people have been released from garda custody after a monkey, a large drugs haul and firearms were seized from a halting site yesterday.

Two brothers as well as a close female relative of the duo were taken into custody last night.

Gardai said this morning that the woman has been charged under the Theft and Fraud Offences Act, 2001 and will appear in court at a later date.

The two men have been released without charge and a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

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Dozens of officers were involved in yesterday morning's search operation at a halting site at the Ratoath Road, Finglas.

Sources say the small monkey had been bought online.

The monkey has been nicknamed 'George' by gardaí and was discovered in a cage when officers raided the Finglas site.

He is now being cared for by the DSPCA.

Sources have revealed that there has been a large number of different animals at the site over the years including horses, hunting dogs and even cocks which had been trained to fight each other.

However, the main priority for gardaí yesterday was the huge haul of drugs, weapons, ammunition and cash that they seized in the raid.

"During the course of the search, gardaí discovered one machine pistol, one sub-machine gun, one .357 calibre revolver, 300 rounds of assorted 9mm and .357 ammunition, 227 rounds of 12-gauge shotgun cartridges," a Garda spokesman said.

"Gardaí also seized cannabis to the street value of €29,500 and cocaine to the street value of €97,300," he added.

A quantity of clothing with a value of €3,000 was also seized and gardaí believe these items were stolen.

It has also emerged there will be an environmental investigation in the case after it was discovered that sewage was leaking into the River Tolka from the site.

Apart from the €125,000 of drugs, gardaí also discovered a pressing machine that indicated the presence of a cocaine factory.

Irish Independent