PORNOGRAPHIC magazines and videos worth more than £20,000 have been found by Customs officers in a raid in Dublin.
The raid on the premises in the north inner city on Thursday evening involved 12 Customs officers. They uncovered a consignment of about 1,000 imported magazines, as well as hundreds of videos and CD-ROM computer discs.
Customs said it had intercepted the consignment, which had come from the Netherlands, before the organisers of the shipment had a chance to distribute the material for sale.
The pornography, described as "explicit hard-core material", was being catalogued by Customs officers last night before being sent to the Censorship of Publications Office and the Film Censor's Office, both part of the Department of Justice.
Customs said the material was "detained" rather than "seized", as it is up to the censors to decide if it is to be banned.
The pornography shows scenes of violence and sex involving teenagers. It is understood the scenes feature people aged from about 16 rather than younger children. The magazines were due to be sold at £15 to £20 each. The videos, worth £30 each according to Customs, were in various languages and from a number of European countries.
Customs said it was one of the biggest consignments they had intercepted in recent years. The find resulted from a lengthy operation involving co-operation between a number of organisations.
The Fianna Fail spokesman on justice, Mr John O'Donoghue, called on the Government last night to criminalise the possession of child pornography. If the Government did not heed its call, Fianna Fail would initiate legislation without delay.