Crime gangs are smuggling drugs into the country inside low-value female horses and donkeys, a joint policing committee heard yesterday.
Fianna Fail councillor Deirdre Heney expressed concern that she received information drug barons are using the tactics to get narcotics past customs checks.
She said she had been told the animals were being brought into Dublin Port and – if the packages were not found during routine veterinary checks – they were later removed and sold on the streets.
The committee also heard from Revenue official Tom Talbot who said they had noticed smugglers had switched from cigarettes to loose tobacco.
He revealed 34 tonnes had been confiscated so far this year compared to just one tonne in the previous two.
Mr Talbot said gangs regarded this as a lower risk activity and a similar trend had been recorded across Europe.
The customs head said the checking of the large volume of cargo and vehicles passing through Dublin Port was “a challenging task”.
More than one million trucks pass annually as well as 750,000 containers, 500,000 tourist vehicles and approximately two million foot passengers.
Mr Talbot said around 42 million illegal cigarettes with a street value of €30million were seized at Dublin Port last year.
The panel heard around €40million in drugs have been seized by Customs officers at Dublin Port this year compared to €18.5million in 2019.
Mr Talbot said this year’s figure was largely due to a €35million seizure of cocaine in July.
Asked by Sinn Fein’s Daithi Doolan what proportion of all illegal drugs was intercepted, Mr Talbot said it was impossible to know.
He noted there was a long-standing estimate that only 5% to 10% of all drugs around the world were confiscated.
Mr Talbot added: “Nobody is under any illusion we catch everything.”
