Gardai are hopeful their 'Operation Wireless II' crackdown on cannabis growhouses will provide proof for the first time of the involvement of UK-based Chinese triad gangs.

Chinese translators are now assisting detectives investigating the results of over 200 raids carried out nationwide into the cannabis supply network.

A total of five major growhouses were successfully targeted in Dublin, Wexford, Meath and Cork with over €1m worth of cannabis seized.

Over recent months, almost 30 Asian nationals have been arrested for growhouse-related activities. Many were found to have no passports or identifying papers on them. Some are believed to have been low-wage migrants tricked by the triads into working in cannabis production.