MORE THAN €8 million worth of herbal cannabis was seized at Dublin Port yesterday morning in the largest drugs haul recorded so far this year.
About 700kg of the drug with an estimated street value of some €8.4 million was found concealed in a 40ft Dutch-registered truck by officers from Revenue’s Customs service, backed by gardaí.
The driver, a Dutch national in his 50s, was being questioned at Store Street Garda station last night. He was arrested under Section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act and can be detained for up to seven days. The truck, which has been impounded, had travelled to Dublin Port from the Netherlands via Holyhead in Wales.
The cannabis was vacuum-packed and placed in cardboard boxes which were “elaborately” hidden beneath a consignment of flowers, a Customs service spokesman said. “The seizure resulted from ongoing operations targeting freight from source countries,” he added.
The consignment was not discovered as a result of a tip-off or as part of an intelligence-led operation. “The seizure was made because of risk-profiling by Revenue Customs officers,” the spokesman said.
He said the arrested man was “assisting officers with inquiries”, but that it was unclear where or for whom the drugs were destined.
The spokesman said the seizure was the largest of herbal cannabis in the State for a number of years. Last year, drugs worth about €30 million were seized by Customs officers, mainly at airports and ports.
Last December, two Dutch men were arrested as part of a similar operation at Dublin Port after heroin worth about €6 million was found in a lorryload of flowers.