$1.5M haul of meth and cannabis arriving on flight from Canada seized at Dublin airport

A woman arriving in Ireland on a flight from Canada was arrested Sunday after customs officers at Dublin Airport found her luggage was stuffed with more than $1.5 million worth of crystal meth and cannabis, Irish officials said.

The drugs were concealed in vacuum-sealed packages within suitcases of a woman in her 50s who had disembarked a flight from Canada, according to Ireland’s police and customs officials.

Vacuum sealing is typically used by smugglers to mute odours to help avoid detection. The subterfuge, however, failed to fool Charlie, a drug-sniffing dog at Dublin Airport.

Charlie caught a whiff of something during luggage processing and alerted his handlers with Revenue Customs Service to the suspected suitcases, according to Dublin’s Revenue officials.

Officers then uncovered a haul of suspected cannabis weighing approximately 29 kilograms and suspected crystal meth weighing six kilograms, all in sealed plastic inside the luggage.

The cannabis was given an estimated street value by officials of 584,000 euros, which is equivalent to about $940,000. The meth was given an estimated street value of about 368,000 euros — equivalent to more than $590,000.

A photo of the seizure released by Ireland’s police, An Garda Síochána, shows two suitcases almost buried by dozens of vacuum packs, but it does not seem all of the packs could fit into just the two cases.

The Garda would not name the woman who was arrested or say where in Canada she came from. All flights from Canada landing in Dublin on Sunday took off from Toronto, according to flight trackers. Police also refused to say whether the arrested woman was a Canadian or if she was someone from Ireland returning from a visit to Canada. Police also wouldn’t say how many suitcases were involved.

“The seized drugs will be sent to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis. Investigations are ongoing,” a Garda spokesperson said. “ There is no further information available.”

The seizure is part of ongoing operations targeting organized crime groups and the importation, sale and supply of illegal drugs, Revenue officials said.

Airports in Britain and Ireland, countries where recreational cannabis remains illegal, have significantly ramped up surveillance for drugs hidden in passenger luggage because of an increasing pattern of drug mules being recruited to hide vacuum-sealed packages in their suitcases.

There has been a deluge of cannabis caught recently at airports in the luggage of travellers — typically young people — as an alternative smuggling vector for organized crime networks to diversify from much larger loads hidden in commercial shipments. The travellers are often convinced their risk is low, penalties soft, and are paid cash and sometimes given free flights in return for their cooperation.

The age of the woman arrested suggests smugglers are looking to use travellers outside their usual profile to help avoid scrutiny.

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