More gangs are using drug mules
Customs officers at the airport have seized cocaine worth just under €2m since the start of the year. This is an indication that international drugs gang are increasingly using mules to smuggle the narcotic into the country.
International studies of the drugs trade state that only 10% of drugs smuggled into any one country are seized.
Officers at the airport discovered 5.5kg of cocaine worth €400,000 in the false bottom of a suitcase when they stopped a man on Thursday evening.
A 20-year-old Briton was arrested and was last night still being questioned at Santry Garda Station.
The man had arrived on a flight from Nigeria, via Paris. This route is similar to that taken by a number of alleged mules stopped at Dublin Airport in recent months. The latest seizure is one of the largest this year.
In a separate development, officers from Revenue’s customs service seized €2.38 million contraband cigarettes at Rosslare Harbour.
Officers stopped a Mercedes truck as it arrived off the ferry from Cherbourg, France.
In follow up search, they discovered Sovereign and Doncaster brand cigarettes, valued at €740,000, hidden behind packages containing tables and chairs on an unaccompanied container.
No arrests were made and investigations are continuing.
