Cocaine 'pouring' into Ireland to supply the Christmas market, gardaí say
Cocaine is continuing to “pour” into the country to feed the Christmas party market, after gardaí and customs made another major haul — some 58kgs — of the drug.
According to a report in The the interception in Kildare and Wexford brings to about 1.8 tonnes the amount of cocaine seized to date in 2025.
That is more than double the amount confiscated in 2024. A record 3.45 tonnes of cocaine was seized in 2023 — dominated by the 2.25 tonnes on board the MV Matthew off the Cork coast in September 2023.
The 58kgs were seized in searches of a business premises in Co Kildare, and a residential property in Co Wexford, in an ongoing operation by the Garda Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau and Revenue Customs.
Security sources said law enforcement has had a good year in terms of successful interventions — including seizures, disruption of supply routes and charges — but admit cocaine continues to “pour into the country”.
One source said: “Years ago, 58kgs would have nearly been unheard of — it’s now a regular occurrence and that’s down to demand, and this supply was for the Christmas market.”
October saw the largest amount of cocaine seized in a month, with almost 580kgs confiscated. The single biggest haul was at Courtmacsherry, Co Cork, last July, when 440kgs was confiscated by the Joint Task Force, comprising gardaí, Revenue and Defence Forces.
The next largest haul was in October, when 202.5kgs was seized by Revenue following routine profiling in Rosslare Port.
