Man held over cannabis smuggling

A man has been arrested after allegedly trying to smuggle cannabis he had ingested through Cork Airport.

Customs officials said they retrieved 80 sealed pellets that the Romanian national had swallowed.

The 36-year-old’s medical condition had been assessed at Cork University Hospital early this morning and he was later charged with attempting to import cannabis resin.

A Customs spokeswoman said the man had arrived on a flight from Spain last night.

“Officers seized approximately 3/4 kilo of cannabis resin with an estimated street value of €6,000, which the man had ingested in the form of sealed pellets to avoid detection,” she said.

“The man was selected for examination following routine profiling, carried out by Customs Officers.

“The final pellet, of 80 in total, was retrieved in the special facilities used by Revenue’s Customs Service at Cork Airport this afternoon.”