€136,000 worth of drugs and cigarettes seized by Revenue in separate operations

The illegal drugs seized at the Dublin Mail Centre

Revenue officers have seized drugs and cigarettes worth €136,000 in three separate operations.

All three seizures took place on Monday in Dublin, Athlone and Rosslare.

At Dublin Mail Centre, Revenue officers seized 4kgs of various types of illegal drugs including herbal cannabis, cannabis oil, cannabis edibles, cocaine and butane honey oil.

The illegal drugs have a combined estimated value of almost €77,500 and were discovered in 28 separate parcels that originated in the UK, USA and Canada.

At the Athlone Mail Centre, officers seized 620 Zopiclone tablets and 5.7kgs of various types of illegal drugs including herbal cannabis, cannabis resin, amphetamine, synthetic cannabinoids and cannabis-infused edibles.

Revenue said that the illegal drugs have a combined estimated value of almost €50,000 and were discovered in 23 separate parcels that originated in the UK and Spain.

Revenue said that the seizures arising from these routine operations were made with the assistance of detector dogs operating in each mail centre, both named Bailey.

The parcels were declared as items such as ‘boxing equipment’, ‘dough craft toy’, ‘fishing tackle’, ‘beef jerky’, and ‘ice hockey equipment’ and were destined for various addresses throughout Ireland.

Officers seized around 12,000 cigarettes at Rosslare Europort

In the final seizure at Rosslare Europort, officers seized around 12,000 cigarettes branded ‘Minsk’ and ‘L&M’ when an Irish registered vehicle that had disembarked a ferry from Cherbourg, France was stopped and searched.

The illicit cigarettes have an estimated retail value of over €8,500, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of approximately €6,720.

A statement from Revenue added that a Polish national in his 40s was questioned.

It added that investigations are ongoing into all seizures.