A consignment of cannabis-infused jelly sweets was among a haul of illicit drugs valued at over €1 million discovered in freight in Dublin Port.
Revenue’s Customs officers have sent the drugs, made up for herbal cannabis and the cannabis infused sweets, for analysis and estimate the haul has a street value of around €1.2 million.
The 55kg of herbal cannabis and 2kg of cannabis infused sweets were discovered in suitcases in the cab of a truck that disembarked a ferry from Holyhead in Wales on Thursday.
The vehicle was initially checked with the X-ray scanner dockside before sniffer dog James was deployed to a suspect area in the cab of the truck.
“An Irish man in his 50’s was arrested by An Garda Síochána and investigations are ongoing,” Revenue said in a statement, adding the seizure was part of its “ongoing operations targeting the importation of illegal drugs”.
Cannabis sweets have become increasingly popular in North America since cannabis has been legalised in many places there and they can be ordered online from both legally trading companies and black market operations.
Data obtained by The Irish Times reveals that the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau seized drugs valued at more than €36 million in the first 11 months of last year, compared to €21.3 million in all of 2019.
Cannabis, in various forms, accounted for almost half of the value of seizures in monetary terms, with €15.2 million discovered in total. In addition, the bureau seized 209kg of cocaine, valued at €14.6 million; 24kg of heroin, valued €3.3 million; and 15kg of ketamine, valued at €900,000.
