60 people have been arrested by gardaí targeting the sale of drugs in Dublin, Cork and Wexford.

200 charges - mostly involving the sale and supply of heroin - have been brought against those arrested.

50 homes were searched during the operation, which lasted six months, and a sizeable quantity of heroin was also seized.

The head of the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, Detective Chief Superintendent Michael O'Sullivan, said the operation would lead to serious shortages of heroin on the streets.

The Dublin arrests, which were in the south inner-city, followed a lengthy operation initiated by Kevin Street gardaí to disrupt organised drug distribution in the area.

All 26 of the suspects arrested in Dublin were male. This search and arrest operation is the second phase of 'Operation Tempest', which saw the arrest of 45 individuals and over 100 drug supply charges in Dublin's north inner-city last year.

In Cork city, 16 men and nine women have been arrested as part of ‘Operation Emerson’, where gardaí at Anglesea Street led a focused operation to tackle those involved in the sale and supply of heroin in the city.

‘Operation Denver’ in Wexford town has resulted in the arrest of seven men and two women, aged from 22 to 61 years. All of those arrested by gardaí at Wexford garda station are charged in connection with the supply of heroin.