Revenue Make Significant Seizures In Dublin & Portlaoise

Revenue officers in Dublin and Portlaoise have seized herbal cannabis, tobacco, cigarettes and cash in multiple recent operations.

In the first incident at Dublin Port on Thursday 06 June, 25kg of herbal cannabis was discovered when officers stopped and searched a shipment from Almería, Spain. The drugs, worth an estimated €500,000, were discovered with the assistance of revenue detector dog Robbie.

In separate operations at Portlaoise Mail Centre on 06 June, 3.4kgs of herbal cannabis worth around €68,000 was detected and seized. The drugs, destined for addresses in Dublin Tipperary, had been concealed in two parcels labelled as "yoga cushions" and "herbal tea". Investigations are ongoing with a view to prosecution.

A series of operations at Dublin Airport over the last week also led to the following:

• 2kgs of herbal cannabis seized from a 38 year old Polish man travelling from Dubai. The drugs had an estimated street value of €40,000 and the man was arrested by Gardai and brought before the District Court where he was remanded in custody until 03 July 2019 for sentencing.

• 20kgs of tobacco and 7,000 cigarettes seized from two female Irish passengers travelling from Lanzarote. The tobacco branded "Amber Leaf" and cigarettes branded "Benson & Hedges" had an estimated retail value of €14,800 and represent a loss to the Exchequer of over €12,800.

• Cash amounting to €15,571 (consisting of Euro, Sterling and US Dollar) believed to be from the proceeds of crime, seized by Revenue officers from three male passengers travelling to New York. A three-month cash detention order has been granted to Revenue officers to allow further investigations to be carried out. 

These seizures are part of Revenue's ongoing operations targeting drug importations and smuggling. Anyone with information regarding drug activity or smuggling in their area can contact Revenue in confidence on confidential line 1800 295 295.