Gardai suspect that £4.5m worth of cocaine found in a fruit and vegetable warehouse in north Co Dublin yesterday was probably transported in error from Antwerp with a cargo of bananas.
Fifty-two kilos of the drug were found by detectives after staff at the wholesale distribution warehouse contacted them. The drugs were contained in three boxes that had arrived as part of a large cargo from Antwerp last month. The cargo originated in Colombia, South America and gardai think that the cocaine was hidden amongst the fruit as it was being loaded.
It is believed that the weight of the boxes may have aroused suspicions among staff who were taking boxes off pallets in the wholesaler's warehouse around lunchtime yesterday. They contacted the Garda in Swords, Co Dublin, who, on arrival, believed they were dealing with a large shipment of drugs. They in turn contacted members of the Garda National Drugs Unit based in Dublin.
The unit visited the warehouse and suspect that the haul, too large for the Irish market, was left behind in error. One source believes the shipment was probably meant to have been off-loaded in Antwerp and distributed from there under cover of the extensive fruit and vegetable distribution network that operates out of there.
There were no arrests made in Ireland in relation to the haul. Last night it was thought that a drugs cartel in Europe may have taken delivery of three boxes of bananas worth a lot less than the £4.5 million at which the cocaine was valued.
The amount of cocaine discovered dwarfs other seizures this year. In November, two men were arrested after four kilograms of the drug were seized in Dublin airport. In October three men were arrested with seven kilograms in a Dublin hotel. Ireland's place on the periphery of Europe, with relatively under-policed waters, has made it a major stopping-off point for drug smugglers in recent years. There have been several very substantial drugs finds in boats on or near the coast.
In mid-November cannabis with an estimated value of £15 million was seized when authorities boarded a Moroccan vessel off the West Cork coast. In September, last year, a search of a catamaran intercepted at Kinsale harbour yielded cocaine with a street value of £102 million. In September, 1996, a suspicious vessel in Cork harbour was reported to customs and cocaine with a value of £183 million was discovered on board.