Yesterday’s €12m cocaine seizure in County Cork is “certainly going to have an impact” on the supply of the drug in Ireland, according to Revenue.

Gardaí and Revenue officers uncovered around 127kg of the drug at Ringaskiddy Port after searching containers that arrived in on a ship from Central America.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Mick Gilligan, Head of Drugs Investigations with Revenue’s Custom Service, said the seizure will impact on the sale and supply of cocaine in Ireland.

“Because this is such a big seizure, there is certainly going to be an impact,” he said.

“This is a very big seizure, a major seizure and probably it is within our top five seizures of the last ten years so there is certainly going to be an impact.”

Mr Gilligan said drug cartels are attempting to smuggle larger loads in one go as a result of Brexit and COVID-19.

“Generally speaking, the international law enforcement experience has been that the illicit drug trade has been disrupted by the global pandemic and the response of the drug cartels has been to pack more quantity on to fewer loads,” he said.

“That is because there is an impact on the international supply chain.”

He said the European cocaine and heroin market is worth €6bn, according to Europol estimates.

“The drug cartels are attempting to satisfy that,” he said.

“They will adapt to any environment in which they are in and they will always test our defences as well – that is something we have become used to.

“But this is a high-risk route and it is a risk that we are very well aware of. We carry out interventions very regularly and we have had other significant seizures on this route previously.”

X-ray scanners and drug detector dogs were used as part of yesterday’s search.

No arrests have yet been made.

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