€480,000 worth of drugs seized in the post
Friday March 14 2008
CUSTOMS officials yesterday intercepted parcels of drugs worth €480,000 which arrived in the country by post.
Four parcels were posted from South Africa and arrived at the Portlaoise mail depot; separately, two parcels were posted by airmail from Poland and arrived into Dublin Airport. There was no connection between the two deliveries.
When four large parcels arrived at Portlaoise depot customs officers became suspicious. The boxes were put through an X-ray machine. The contents described as "personal effects" turned out to be 42kgs of herbal cannabis worth €420,000 on the streets.
Slabs of cannabis were wrapped in PVC covered with newspapers. They were destined for the same address in Waterford city.
Customs officers, the Garda National Drugs Units and Waterford Drug Unit combined forces. A 28-year-old Irish man was arrested when he took possession of the drugs delivered by a garda dressed as a postman in what was described as a "controlled delivery."
Customs drugs dog Toby hit the mark when two parcels arrived from Poland in the post by airmail into Dublin Airport. Inside was 6kgs of herbal cannabis and 0.25kgs of cannabis resin with a street value of about €60,000.
Again officers from Revenue's Customs service, the Garda National Drugs Unit and the Drug Unit in Mullingar linked up. Another controlled delivery to a small village in Co Westmeath resulted with the arrest of three Polish men, in their 20s. They are being questioned at Mullingar garda station. A spokesman for the Revenue said last night that it was very unusual for such large consignments of drugs to arrive in the post. There were more than 1,000 cases last year of small envelopes which arrived in the post containing small amounts of drugs for personal use. The average content was about 10 grams.
Cannabis
Meanwhile, in Cork two men were arrested yesterday following a €200,000 cannabis seizure in the city. The cannabis was discovered by gardai after a vehicle was stopped late on Wednesday night on the Lower Glanmire Road.
Gardai later recovered 20kg of cannabis with a street value of around €200,000.
A man in his 40s was arrested by gardai in Cork city centre in connection with the discovery.
Less than an hour later, a man in his mid-30s was arrested in the Togher area of Cork's southside. Both men were being questioned yesterday under the Misuse of Drugs Act at Mayfield and Togher garda stations. A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
- Brendan Farrelly and Ralph Riegel
