Two men have been arrested after €11.4 million worth of cocaine was discovered in a horsebox by Revenue officers at Rosslare Europort, Co Wexford, on Thursday.
The men, one aged in his 20s and the other in his 30s, were arrested by gardaí and are currently being held under Section Two of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996 at a Garda station in Wexford.
The drugs were found with the aid of a mobile x-ray scanner and drug detection dog Daithí after officers searched a horsebox which had arrived in the port from Cherbourg, France. Nearly 163kgs of the illegal substance were seized.
The seizure was carried out as part of Revenue’s risk profiling process, a risk-based selection tool which Revenue employs to select businesses and individuals for visits, investigations and audits.
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Investigations following from the arrests that were made remain ongoing.
The seizure is the second time a significant quantity of illegal drugs have been discovered in Co Wexford in recent days after €52,000 worth of cannabis was seized on Tuesday.
[ Drugs, cash seized in pre-planned Garda-Revenue raids in DublinOpens in new window ]
Thursday’s seizure is one of a number that have been made at Irish ports in recent months. Since May, over eight million cigarettes have been seized at Dublin Port, while on May 21st €2,840,000 worth of cannabis was seized at the same port.
The most recent seizure at Rosslare is part of Revenue’s ongoing work targeting smuggling and shadow economy activity. If businesses, or members of the public has any information, they can contact Revenue in confidence on Confidential Phone Number 1800 295 295.
