Dublin Airport workers arrested over €1m cocaine seizure

The drugs bust was made in the airport yesterday after a man disembarked a flight having travelled to Ireland from Brazil via Germany.

It’s understood that gardaí swooped on the suspects when the drug consignment was picked up in a toilet after being transported into the country.

The Irish Independent has learned that two of the men in custody are Dublin Airport workers who are employed through a third party contractor.

The DAA confirmed that none of its employees were involved in the incident.

A third man detained is the individual who flew into Dublin. He is understood to be a Brazilian national.

The suspects are currently being held at Blanchardstown and Coolock garda stations in the capital.

They are being detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996 and can be questioned for up to seven days.

After that period of detention expires they must either be charged or released from custody pending a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

A Garda spokesman said: “The seizure was made as a result of a joint operation conducted by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB), Revenue’s Customs Service. Assistance was also provided by law enforcement agencies in Germany and South America.”

The spokesman added that investigations are ongoing.

Detectives are attempting to establish if the drugs are linked to the Kinahan cartel or another major Irish-based crime group.

They will also try and determine how long the suspected smuggling ring has been operating for.

Last March, a 33-year-old Irishman travelling a similar route was arrested after 15kg of cocaine was found in his luggage in Zurich.

He had flown from Sao Paulo to the Swiss city, and intended to travel onwards to Dublin via Frankfurt before being detained.

Gardaí are investigating any potential connections between the two incidents but no links have yet been confirmed.

In recent years gardaí have increased their international cooperation with police forces across the globe by posting garda liaison officers in various countries.

This included sending a senior detective to the Colombian capital Bogota to assist in the investigations of transnational drug trafficking from South America.

In a separate seizure on Monday, also carried out by the GNDOCB and Revenue, almost €7m worth of cannabis was seized following an operation at a business premises at Ballyhale, Co Kilkenny

Two English nationals, aged in their 30s and 40s, remain in garda custody in relation to the seizure for drug trafficking offences.