Ferry suspicious Man arrested as €1.8m of cannabis found hidden in side panels of van at Cork Port

AN ESTIMATED €1.8m of cannabis has been seized by Customs & Excise officials and Gardaí at Cork Port.

It marks the latest major success in the battle against drug smuggling networks in Ireland with significant previous seizures in both Cork and Dublin.

The seizure - which was made at Ringaskiddy - followed an intelligence-focused operation targeting a van which had just arrived from France on board a ferry.

Gardaí later arrested a man in his 20s under drugs legislation.

The man, who is understood to be an East European national, has been taken to Togher Garda Station where he can be detained for an initial period of 24 hours.

The seizure followed a van leaving the Brittany Ferries vessel minutes after it had docked following an overnight crossing from France.

It is understood the vehicle was registered in Poland and was directed into a holding area for examination by Revenue Commissioner officials.

On opening the van, almost 40 packages were discovered carefully hidden within side panels of the vehicle.

Officials were alerted to the side panels on the vehicle by a sniffer dog named Marley.

The packages were seized and are believed to contain herbal cannabis.

All will be removed for expert forensic analysis but the drugs are believed to have a street value of around €1.7m.

The driver was the sole occupant of the vehicle which boarded the ferry in Roscoff.

Last month, an estimated €12m in cocaine was seized in Cork after it arrived at the container terminal via freight ship from South America.

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