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Christina Finn/@christinafinn8

No arrests made as cannabis worth €37.5 million found in tractor parts

This one seizure at Dublin Port is larger than the total amount seized in 2015 and 2016 combined.

NO ARRESTS HAVE yet been made in connection with the cannabis seizure made by gardaí yesterday – estimated to be worth €37.5 million.

The 1,800 kilos seizure was made at Dublin Port yesterday because of collaboration efforts between Revenue officers and An Garda Síochána, and gardaí said today that there was an “international context” to the investigation.

“I don’t think any one is in any doubt that organised crime in Ireland and international level have a significant capacity, and the task for all of us is to match that with expertise and combine expertise of the state agencies to achieve this result,” Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll told reporters at a press conference today.

Image uploaded from iOS (1) Christina Finn Christina Finn

Liam Irwin from the Revenue Commissioners put the size of this seizure into context:

What we have here today is more than the entire cannabis seizures for 2015 and 2016.

“Once they’ve gone for analysis of quality and content, they’ll be stored at a secure location, they may be required as evidence depending on how investigations proceed, and they’re securely destroyed.”

As of yet there have been no arrests. “That’s not something you’d expect at this stage – it just arrived in a container there was nobody accompanying it,” says Irwin.

“There’s a significant international context to this, so we’re not in a position to comment on that,” said O’Driscoll when asked if the shipment arrived from a European Union port.

“It was concealed in tractor parts – quite a sophisticated concealment. That’s part of the work that needs to be done in finding out what it was and where it was,” said Irwin in response to a question from TheJournal.ie.

Something like 10,000 containers arrive a week so it really was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Yesterday, Tánaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald praised the work of Revenue and gardaí: “Week in, week out, the gardaí and customs work very closely in trying to prevent the importation of illicit drugs into the country and they have many successes.

“This seizure in particular, demonstrates their determination and resourcefulness in going after the activities of drugs gangs who seek to profit from causing such misery in communities through their deadly trade.”

With reporting from Christina Finn.

Read: Massive drugs seizure: Gardaí and customs net cannabis worth €37.5 million

Read: Synthetic drugs: How new highs are infiltrating the Irish market

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    Mute Gizmo mac
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    May 17th 2014, 9:04 AM

    They can meet in Ennis and have their combined rag week so!

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    Mute Lester Jeffcoat
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    May 17th 2014, 9:21 AM

    Brilliant. I alway said that what the Atlantic Corridor needs is a framework to enhance collaboration. I’m just amazed that a multi-stakeholder regional cluster hasn’t been envisaged before now.

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    Mute Yako
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    May 17th 2014, 2:14 PM

    I am not convinced. I would use the example of silicon valley a region we should emulate. There you have a region with a huge amount of institutions doing their things and competing. No federally driven mergers or amalgamations. Take the example of Caltech, a small but amazingly successful IT. Give the institutions more autonomy and a fixed budget and let them compete.

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    Mute Fergal Reid
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    May 17th 2014, 11:13 AM

    For a country of 4.5 million people, we sure have an endless number of third level institutions.

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    Mute Chris Chris
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    May 17th 2014, 11:38 AM

    First Tipperary Institute merged with LIT now GMIT. Why does this country think centralisation and merging is the answer to everything. It’s a just a ruse for more cuts but the people are too stupid to see it. Same with the abolition of the urban councils. A cash grab on the rich urban councils to save rural Ireland. Name one situation where centralisation/mergers has worked in this country?

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