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Drugs, weapons and cigarettes among €688,200 worth of contraband seized

Some of the drugs seized by Revenue officers
Some of the drugs seized by Revenue officers

Drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and weapons worth €688,200 have been seized by Revenue officers in a series of raids across the country.

Hundreds of counterfeit items, with an estimated value of over €117,000, were also seized and included goods branded Burberry, Calvin Klein, Canada Goose, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Moncler, North Face, Ugg, Hoka and YSL.

The detections were made in Dublin, the midlands, Kilkenny, Waterford and Rosslare Europort.

Herbal cannabis with an estimated value of almost €356,000 was discovered by Revenue officers examining parcels in Dublin and the midlands. The 17.79kg of the drugs were found with the assistance of detector dogs Enzo and Ciara.

Detector dog Ciara helped in the discovery of herbal cannabis during the examination of parcels

The parcels had originated in the US, Belgium, Spain and Canada, and were destined for various addresses around the country.

Nearly 20,000 litres of alcohol with an estimated value of €80,000, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of over €37,500 was also seized by Revenue officers in an operation.

Separately, 25,180 cigarettes with an estimated value of over €22,700, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of almost €18,000 was discovered.

The cigarettes and alcohol products were seized in various operations in the midlands, Kilkenny, Waterford and Rosslare.

Three weapons, consisting of a slingshot, a dagger stick and a rifle were also seized in the midlands.

In one operation, officers discovered 3.8kg of butane honey oil, a cannabis concentrate, with an estimated value of €76,000.

While over 440g of MDMA over €26,500, as well as various other illicit drugs with an estimated value over €10,000 were detected.

The illicit drugs consisted of cannabis oil, cannabis resin, edibles, reefers, Alprazalam, Diazepam, Zolpidem, Zopiclone and nitrous oxide.

The seizures form part of Revenue's ongoing operations targeting smuggling and shadow economy activity.

A Revenue spokesperson said: "Investigations into all seizures are ongoing."

If businesses, or members of the public, have any information regarding smuggling, they can contact Revenue in confidence on 1800 295 295.