Businessman Jim Mansfield has defended the security measures at his airport in Co Kildare following the discovery of a plot to smuggle heroin worth €10 million into to Ireland through his facility..
He believes if the drugs had left the airfield at Wevelgem, Belgium, on his plane as planned on Tuesday, they would have been detected at Weston airport, Leixlip, which was the final destination and which he owns.
Garda sources have told The Irish Times that part of their investigation is now focused on trying to determine if the drug route via Weston had been used in the past. The Customs presence at all small airports is now being reviewed.
Mr Mansfield said he was "deeply shocked" that his jet was being used to transport the drugs when they were discovered by the Belgian authorities on Tuesday. "The aircraft was being used and operated by the National Flight Centre and I had no knowledge that it was even out of the country," Mr Mansfield said in a statement last night.
"I am . . . disappointed that this chain of events is being used by certain individuals to cast doubts about security at Weston executive airport. I have spent several million euro on security enhancements at Weston."
His comments follow statements by Tony Gregory TD (Ind) and Catherine Murphy TD (Ind), in whose Kildare North constituency a section of Weston is located. After the smuggling plot came to light, both deputies pointed out that Revenue's Customs service had been present at Weston on only 16 days last year.
Mr Mansfield has said he has put in place the "most advanced security systems available". These include X-ray systems for luggage which "can even detect narcotics".
However, he pointed out it was the responsibility of departing airports to check luggage. "Weston would welcome a full-time presence of Customs at the airport," he said. There were several airports in the Republic which did not have a full-time Customs presence.
A spokesman for Revenue, which is responsible for Customs, said flights coming from EU member states to small airports were risk assessed and checked accordingly.
EU regulations allowed for the examination of EU flights only where there is "reasonable suspicion". All flights from outside the EU were checked. Revenue was reviewing Customs cover at small airports in light of the discovery of the drugs on Tuesday.
Mr Mansfield's plane was being used by another Irish aircraft operator on Tuesday when it was flown from Weston to Wevelgem. The two-man Irish crew intended to collect a passenger and bring him to Weston.
When this man, a 32-year-old from the Leeds-Bradford area, was about to board the plane 50kg of heroin worth €10 million was found in his luggage. He was arrested along with the two Irish pilots. The Cessna Citation VI aircraft was impounded.
One of the pilots is a 38-year-old Dublinman who was caught in the 1990s with a large quantity of cannabis.
A 36-year-old Irishman was arrested at Weston where he works. He is a director of the plane hire company that was using Mr Mansfield's plane and is suspected of organising the shipment. He is a former nightclub bouncer whose company now owns two planes. He has already been investigated by the Criminal Assets Bureau.
A 49-year-old Scottish man was arrested in the Netherlands. He is believed to have sourced the drugs. He and the Irish man arrested in Dublin were still being questioned last night.The three men arrested in Belgium have already appeared before the courts there. This hearing was held in private and the men cannot be named. They are to appear before the courts in Wevelgem again today.
