Almost €100 million worth of illicit drugs were seized at Ireland’s ports and airports in the first half of 2024.
The over €98.4 million worth of drugs confiscated at the transport hubs by the authorities in the six months up to the end of June is more than the full-year totals for four of the previous five years.
The only year with a higher value of drugs seized was 2023, when almost €284 million worth of drugs were detected at ports and airports out of a record-breaking overall seizure at all locations of €302 million.
Of this, more than €157 million worth of cocaine was seized after the joint-taskforce operation involving the Garda, the Defence Forces and Revenue officials intercepted the MV Matthew vessel off the south coast last September.
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The latest figures were provided to Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy by Minister for Finance Jack Chambers in a written answer to a parliamentary question.
She had asked for the weight, value and type of illicit substances detected by officials from the Revenue Commissioners at airports and ports since 2019.
In the first six months of 2024 just under three tonnes of cannabis herb or resin worth almost €56.4 million was seized at ports and airport.
Amphetamine, ecstasy or other drugs worth some €36.9 million were also recovered, as was cocaine or heroin worth more than €5.1 million.
The overall value of airport and port drug seizures in previous years was €12.1 million in 2019; €41.95 million in 2020; €82 million in 2021; €32.29 million in 2022: and €283.77 million in 2023.
In response to questions from The Irish Times about the varying sums for the value of drugs seized over the last 5½ years, a Revenue statement said: “Revenue deploys a risk-based approach in its detection and intervention strategy and collaborates with a range of national and international law enforcement partners in doing so.
“Revenue enforcement teams operate at all main ports, airports and mail centres, as well as freight forwarding premises, and use a variety of resources such as detector dog teams, X-ray scanners and physical examinations in their work.”
It added: “Identifying, targeting and disrupting the illegal drug trade is a key priority for Revenue, and our successes in this area are a result of advanced risk analysis and profiling.
“Our strategy also involves developing and sharing intelligence on a national, EU and international basis, and we continue to adopt an agile response to this threat, deploying our resources optimally to counteract the tactics of criminal gangs in this sphere.”
The statement also said: “Our work against drug crime is extensive and multifaceted, and our enforcement teams achieved exceptional results in this area during 2023.”
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