There has been a substantial increase in the quantity of drugs being seized at Dublin Airport, gardaí and Revenue Commissioners have said.
Over €3m worth of cocaine and cannabis has been seized at the airport in the last two weeks. Eight people have been arrested and charged.
Ireland has become a major market for cannabis and cocaine and is increasingly being targeted by South American cartels and Asian criminal gangs.
Gardaí said that those being caught are the poor and the desperate, many from the shanty towns of South America.
They are usually paid around €1,000 per journey but in some cases have to conceal internally up to €100,000 worth of cocaine - 100 capsules.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
The cannabis is likely hidden in suitcases and detected by Revenue sniffer dogs.
Suitcases can contain up to €350,000 worth of cannabis.
Gardaí said mid-level organised crime groups in Ireland are now establishing contacts and smuggling routes with the South American cartels and Asian gangs and that almost all of the drugs seized at the airport are destined for the Irish market.
Customs officers say the increase in drugs seizure at the Airport is linked to the legalisation of cannabis in parts of the United States and Asia.
The amount of drugs seized last year quadrupled to €40m from the previous year.
The cannabis is being trafficked from the US and Asia, while the cocaine is coming in from South America.
The Revenue Commissioners said they seized a total of almost €45m worth of drugs last month, almost €170m for the year so far, almost two and a half times the amount of €75m seized in the same period last year.
There have been more than 800 individual drug seizure at Dublin airport so far this year, including 80 in the last month.
People putting themselves 'at serious risk'
Superintendent Darren McCarthy, who has responsibility for the policing of Dublin Airport, said the practice of people concealing drugs internal puts them "at serious risk".
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland he said those found hiding drugs inside themselves need to remain in hospital for five to six days to ensure that all the pellets have been removed.
Eight arrests in ten days is "unusual", he said, but numbers have increased since the airport resumed operations following the lockdowns and travel restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Those arrested are a mix of nationalities, including from Ireland, South America, and southeast Asia, he said.
He said they are poor and vulnerable but are facing up to eight years in prison here with a conviction rate of 100% in the past two years.
