Drug couriers 'ingesting cocaine and risking their lives for as little as €1,000'

Garda Superintendent Darren McCarthy (right) and Michael Gilligan, Head of Customs at Dublin Airport during an update to media by An Garda Siochana and partners in Revenue Customs following joint intelligence operations at Dublin Airport, which have led to the arrest of a number of international passengers detected importing drugs into Ireland through Dublin Airport in the past ten days. Picture: Gareth Chaney/PA

Vulnerable people are risking their lives by ingesting cocaine to smuggle into Ireland for organised crime gangs for as little as €1,000.

That is despite the fact the drugs they are carrying, often in up to 120 pellets or more concealed internally, can be worth in excess of €100,000 to the gangs.

Michael Gilligan, head of Customs at Revenue, said they have seen a rise in the number of vulnerable people being used by the gangs to smuggle drugs through airports.

He referenced nine specific cases between August 28 to September 9 alone.

“I don’t want you to get the impression that what happens over a 10-day period was unusual,” he said. “This is basically what happens every day of the year, 365 days, especially here in Dublin airport. 

“Of those nine cases, five of those were cocaine and it was five individuals smuggling it from Brazil."

He said four of those came from Lisbon and one came through Charles de Gaul. 

“We are not only interested in the drugs, once we interact with a passenger and there is an indication that there are drugs on board, then we have to be careful about the health and safety of that person. That is paramount to us.

"In the same period, we had four significant seizures of cannabis and those four came from Thailand," he said adding the cannabis was a basic concealment within suitcases.

Overall, 258 cocaine pellets with a combined weight of around 3.9kg and an estimated value of €275,000 and 140kg of herbal cannabis with an estimated value of almost €2.8m was recovered over the days.

Mr Gilligan said there have been more than 800 individual drug seizures at Dublin Airport alone this year split across cargo and passengers, adding it is a "very serious problem".

Revenue Customs official Sarah and Revenue Customs detection dog Maggie, during an update to media by An Garda Siochana and partners in Revenue Customs following joint intelligence operations at Dublin Airport, which have led to the arrest of a number of international passengers detected importing drugs into Ireland through Dublin Airport in the past ten days. Picture: Gareth Chaney/PA

Superintendent Darren McCarthy, who has responsibility for policing at Dublin airport, said there is a strong collaboration between customs, revenue and gardaí in relation to drug trafficking.

“We can see from 100 to 120 pellets ingested into these vulnerable people” he said.

“It can vary from time to time the size of the pellets. On average the value within a person could vary from €70,000 to €100,000.”

He said those who were arrested where from Ireland, South America, and Southeast Asia.

“Of those arrested, they are currently before the courts, in relation to these particular cases,” he said.

“These vulnerable people receive a custodial sentence of approximately six to eight years," he added and there is a “100% conviction rate”.

Superintendent McCarthy said gardaí believe interventions such as last week's are helping to "obstruct and dismantle" drugs gangs.

Revenue Customs detection dog Jack at Dublin Airport. Picture: Gareth Chaney/PA Wire

The latest figures from Revenue show enforcement teams seized a record-breaking €302m worth of drugs imported into Ireland last year.

That includes the €157m worth of cocaine which was found on board the MV Matthew off the coast of Cork in September.

In the period up to the end of August this year, €170m worth of drugs were seized – up from €75m in the same time last year.