This article is from page 2 of the 2008-12-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
A HAUL of more than two kilos of cocaine hidden in an aircraft at Shannon Airport last week were not destined for the local market, accord- ing to gardai.
The seizure of 2.2 kilos of the drug, worth €158,000, was made during a routine search of an aircraft late last Monday night.
The drugs had been concealed in an overhead lighting unit on the plane. The Boeing 767 had made the jour- ney from the Carribean to Amster- dam, prior to travelling to Shannon
for maintenance.
Sources say they believe the drugs were destined for the Dutch market, but the aircraft is understood to have departed Amsterdam earlier than an- ticipated. As a result, those behind the transportation of them did not get the opportunity to pick them up and this resulted in the drugs being brought to Shannon.
The drugs were discovered by the airport’s drugs dog, Shadow, during a routine search of the aircraft.
During a similar search, over a kilo of cocaine was discovered in a concealed area in an overhead locker
during maintenance of another air- craft at Shannon 12 months ago.
As part of the investigation into the discovery of the drugs last week, gardai are attempting to track down the history of the aircraft over a number of weeks prior to the discov- ery.
“While we have an open mind as to the destination of these drugs, I would suspect we weren’t the prima- ry destination,’ said a garda source.
“This method of transporting drugs is unusual, but people are always looking at ways of transporting drugs around the world,” he added.
As the newly-appointed Chief Su- perintendent in Clare, Kevin Dono- hoe, has pledged to consider increas- ing resources across the Clare garda division to tackle the drugs issue, gardai say they will continue to take on drug traffickers.
“We are actively seeking to police drug trafficking and drug traffickers, regardless of what destinations drugs are for,” said the source.
‘All we can do is promise that we will keep the activities of drug traf- fickers in mind. They will be pur- sued actively and they have to realise this,’ he added.