Fourteen people in Ireland were arrested on Monday as part of an ongoing police investigation into organized crime and drug trafficking. The 12 men and two women were detained at 27 locations across the country on Monday morning. Irish police, assisted by customs officers, carried out searches in homes and businesses in the different locations. During one of the raids, a large consignment of contraband cigarettes was found. The men and women in custody are aged between 18 and 54 and are being held at a number of police stations in the southeast of the country. This operation was set up in October of last year to target organized criminal activity, drug trafficking and firearms possession throughout the southeast. So far, the ongoing operation has yielded 18 seizures of controlled substances. The total value of drugs recovered to date amounts to 4.4 million euros and includes cannabis, cocaine and amphetamine. The operation is part of a nationwide crackdown on organized crime and drug trafficking across Ireland. Figures from the Central Statistics Office in October showed a 13-percent drop in drug crime in Ireland compared to the previous year.