More than €600,000 worth of drugs seized by Revenue

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, Press Association

Cocaine and cannabis worth more than €600,000 have been seized by Revenue in the past week.

Drugs, counterfeit items, tobacco products and other items worth an estimated €608,900 has been seized in various operations in Dublin, the Midlands, and Rosslare Europort.

An estimated €503,000 worth of cocaine, or 7.2kg, was seized as a result of a physical search by Revenue officers of a parcel from Rotterdam received at the DPD Athlone Parcel Hub.

Herbal cannabis, with an estimated value of more than €37,400 and a weight of 1.9kg, along with cannabis resin worth over €14,100 and various other illicit drugs valued at an estimated €8,200 were also seized.

The herbal cannabis and illicit drugs seizures were made with the assistance of detector dogs Ciara and Jasper.

The parcels originated from the USA, the UK, and Spain, and were destined for various addresses nationwide, Revenue said.

Other seizures made in the past week include six weapons accessories, 171 counterfeit items, with an estimated value of more than €35,700 and tobacco products worth an estimated €10,400, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of over €8,100.

The counterfeit goods were seized as they were confirmed by the rights holder to have infringed on Intellectual Property Rights, Revenue said.