PICTURE: Massive drugs seizure at Irish airport amid influx of visitors for Christmas
Cannabis worth more almost €1.3 million found in luggage of passengers who had travelled from United States of America
Two women have been arrested by gardai following a significant drugs seizure at Shannon Airport in County Clare.
The pair were arrested this Monday after Revenue officers seized 64kgs of suspected herbal cannabis with an estimated value of €1,280,000.
"The cannabis was discovered concealed in vacuum packed packages in the baggage of two female passengers who had disembarked a flight originating from the United States," said a Revenue spokesperson.
Around 115,000 people are expected to pass through Shannon Airport this Christmas while hundreds of thousands more will pass through Dublin and Cork Airports between now and early January.
The women, aged in their 20s and 40s, were subsequently arrested and are currently detained at a garda station in the Southern Region under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996.
Investigations are ongoing.
Revenue says the seizure, one of the largest at Shannon Airport in recent years, is part of its ongoing operations targeting organised crime groups and the importation, sale and supply of illegal drugs.
If businesses, or members of the public, have any information regarding smuggling, they can contact Revenue in confidence on 1800 295 295