FIVE MEN and a woman were being held by gardaí last night following the discovery of cannabis valued at more than €1.2 million in separate operations by gardaí and Customs officers in Dublin, Clare and Wexford.
The biggest of the seizures was made in Blanchardstown, Dublin, where a haul valued at €1.1 million was discovered.
In Wexford some €175,000 worth of the drug was discovered hidden in the petrol tank of a car as it disembarked a ferry at Rosslare Europort.
The UK-registered Vauxhall had disembarked the ferry from Cherbourg, France, when a Customs and Excise sniffer dog, Dillon, alerted his handler that the vehicle contained drugs.
The dog was being used to routinely scan all of the vehicles as they disembarked the ferry.
An initial search of the boot and inside the car failed to indentify the hiding place.
Closer inspection revealed the car’s fuel tank had been tampered with.
When a full examination was carried out, Customs officers discovered the fuel tank had been split to create a compartment in which 25kgs of cannabis resin had been hidden.
“It was a well concealed device,” said Customs officer Eddie Fortune.
The haul has an estimated street value of about €175,000. It brings to €8.7 million the value of drugs discovered by sniffer dog Dillon in the past three months in Rosslare.
The occupants of the vehicle, a 43-year-old French woman and 51-year-old English man were arrested at the scene. They were taken to Wexford town Garda station where they were still being questioned last night.
The discovery of the larger haul of cannabis late on Wednesday night in Blanchardstown also occurred as a result of a joint Garda and Customs operation.
A consignment of tiles had entered the Republic by sea from southern Spain when Customs officers discovered some €1.1 million worth of cannabis hidden within the load.
Gardaí were alerted and the freight was delivered to its intended address at the Rosemount industrial estate, Blanchardstown.
When two men arrived to collect the consignment on Wednesday evening gardaí moved in and arrested them. The men were in the process of unpacking the cannabis from the pallets of tiles when they were arrested.
The men are aged 39 and 53 and are from Coolock and Dublin’s north inner city. They are believed to be members of a drugs gang based mainly in north Dublin.
Both were taken to Blanchardstown Garda station for questioning under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act but they have since been released without charge.
In another operation by Customs officers on Wednesday night two men were arrested after quantities of cannabis and cocaine were discovered at Shannon airport. The men, both UK nationals in their 30s, had disembarked a flight from Spain.
One of them was found to have swallowed 175 pellets of cannabis weighing one kilo and valued at €12,000. His travelling companion was found to be carrying a small quantity of cocaine and was arrested. The man who ingested the cannabis was taken to the Mid Western Regional Hospital for treatment before being arrested by gardaí. Both men were still being held last night.
