Eight arrested after €3 million of cocaine and cannabis seized at Dublin Airport

Fri, 13 Sep, 2024 - 10:36

Kenneth Fox

€3 million worth of cocaine and cannabis has been seized at Dublin Airport since last week.

Seven incidents of passengers trying to smuggle drugs into the country were uncovered between Wednesday and Sunday, with eight people arrested.

On Wednesday, September 4th for example, Revenue officers at Dublin Airport seized 1.3 kgs of cocaine and over 74 kgs of herbal cannabis with a combined estimated value of €1,572,600.

The illicit cocaine, with an estimated value of €91,000, was discovered when Revenue officers stopped and searched a passenger who had disembarked a flight from Lisbon originating in Brazil.

A man in his 30s was arrested by An Garda Síochána, subsequently charged and appeared before the courts.

Separately and also on Wednesday in two standalone operations, Revenue officers at Dublin Airport seized over 74kgs of herbal cannabis with an estimated value of €1,481,600 when two passengers disembarked flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively, with both flights originating in Thailand.

In both cases, approximately 37kgs of herbal cannabis, with an estimated value of €740,800 each, was discovered in vacuum-packed packages within the baggage of the passenger.

A man in his 40s and woman in her 20s were arrested, charged and have since been before the courts.

Meanwhile, figures from Revenue show almost €170 million worth of drugs have been seized up until the end of August, more than double the figure for the same period last year.