The largest Irish seizure of herbal cannabis on record was made yesterday by Customs officers in Dublin Port. They removed more than six tonnes of the drug from a container which arrived last Thursday.
It has an estimated street value of €15 million and amounts to almost half the total quantity of cannabis seized last year. Although the origin of the cannabis is unknown the container originated in Bangkok, Thailand, and was shipped via Singapore and Antwerp.
It was deemed to be high-risk by the freight profiling unit, which risk-analyses all incoming container traffic, and was thus searched by Customs and Excise officers.
The front of the container was packed with concrete garden furniture intended to obstruct examination of the cargo, according to Mr Brendan Smyth, assistant principal officer with the Customs and Excise Enforcement Division.
Analysis of the drug showed it had a high active ingredient content, with up to 40 per cent TVA.
Mr Smyth said the standard TVA content of cannabis resin was 10 per cent. In the UK it would thus be valued substanially higher, with an estimated street value of £30 million. It is not known whether the shipment was intended for the British or Irish market.
A man has been arrested and detained in Killarney Garda station under Provision 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act in connection with the seizure.
A further drugs find was made last Sunday afternoon at Dublin Airport with the seizure of 4kg of cocaine. It was found concealed in the lining of a passenger's bag.
The passenger, a national of South Africa, arrived in Ireland from Caracas, Venezuela, via Amsterdam.
A 34-year old Irish truck driver was taken into police custody in France yesterday after the truck he was driving was found to contain more than a tonne of cannabis resin. He was stopped by customs officials at Le Perthus on the Spanish border.