A 57-year-old Irishman has been arrested in France in connection with the seizure of over €600,000 worth of cocaine destined for the Channel Islands.
The man, of Bishopstown in Cork city, has appeared in court in France allegedly in connection with the seizure of 4kg of cocaine at Granville in Normandy last Saturday.
French Customs officials recovered the drugs with assistance from their counterparts in Jersey, who had mounted an intelligence-led operation.
Mark Cockerham, director of law enforcement in Jersey, welcomed the seizure as an important victory in the fight against drug-trafficking into the Channel Islands.
“The quantity of cocaine seized is significant and had it been imported and distributed in Jersey this would have led to a large supply being available at user level,” he said.
The cocaine would most likely have been cut several times with other substances to make higher profits for those at each level of the supply chain, he added.
“Whilst we have seen a marked increase in the seizures of ‘new psychoactive substances’ this year, this demonstrates that there is still a demand for Class A drugs in Jersey.
“We are pleased to have prevented this consignment from being imported into our island,” said Mr Cockerham, adding that investigations were continuing in Jersey.
