Revenue officers seize nearly €75k worth of drugs, cigarettes and tobacco

The illegal cannabis and tablets were sniffed out with the help of Revenue detector dog Bailey. Picture: Revenue

Revenue officers have seized over €70,000 euro worth of illegal drugs and cigarettes.

On Monday, officers at Europort Rosslare seized approximately 13,400 cigarettes and nearly 830g of tobacco.

The cigarettes, branded ‘Benson & Hedges Option’, ‘Rothmans’, ‘L&M Red’, ‘L&M Blue’ and tobacco branded ‘Drum’, have an estimated retail value of over €10,000, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of approximately €7,932.

The illegal cigarettes were discovered when officers stopped and searched a Czech registered van that had disembarked a ferry from Dunkirk, France.

The cigarettes and tobacco seized at Rosslare Europort. Picture: Revenue

A Czech national in his 40’s was questioned in relation to the seizure.

Cannabis, zopiclone, diazepam, benzodiazepine and Butane Honey Oil seized

Then this afternoon, officers at Dublin Mail Centre seized 3kg of Herbal Cannabis, 70 tablets of Zopiclone, 60 tablets of Diazepam, 60 tablets of Benzodiazepine and 3g of Butane Honey Oil.

The illegal items were sniffed out with the help of Revenue detector dog Bailey.

The drugs have a combined estimated value of almost €62,000 and were discovered in 20 separate parcels that originated in the USA, Canada, Germany and Croatia. 

The parcels were declared as items such as ‘dog clothing’, ‘canvas artwork’, ‘glass ashtrays’, ‘board games’, ‘action figures’ and ‘puzzles’, and were destined for delivery in Dublin, Cork and Galway.

A spokesperson for Revenue said investigations into the seizures are ongoing.