Mildred Fox
Ceist:54 Ms M. Fox asked the Minister for Finance the number of officials employed at Cork Airport to deal with drug trafficking; his views on whether this number is adequate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11189/96]
Written Answers. - Drug Trafficking.
Mildred Fox
Ceist:55 Ms M. Fox asked the Minister for Finance the number of officials employed at Shannon Airport to deal with drug trafficking; his views on whether this number is adequate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11190/96]
Mildred Fox
Ceist:56 Ms M. Fox asked the Minister for Finance the number of officials employed at Dublin Airport to deal with drug trafficking; his views on whether this number is adequate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11191/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 54, 55 and 56 together.
I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that eight Customs officials are assigned to the passenger terminal at Cork Airport, 14 to the passenger terminal at Shannon Airport and 16 to the passenger terminal at Dublin Airport with responsibility, as part of their normal duties, for the detection and prevention of drug smuggling. Additionally, specialist units of the Customs national drugs team are assigned to the three airports viz. an intelligence unit to Cork Airport and an intelligence unit and a sniffer-dog unit each to Shannon and Dublin Airports. These specialist units are engaged exclusively in combating drug smuggling both by air travellers and in commercial cargo.
Normal Customs checks are applied to passengers and their baggage arriving at the airports on flights from non-EU countries. Deputies will be aware that in the Single Market situation passengers from other EU countries cannot be required to clear Customs by entering the red or green channels and cannot be subjected to normal Customs checks. Certain checks on these passengers and their baggage, in particular checks to prevent and detect drug smuggling, may be carried out, but they must be unobtrusive, selective and highly targeted. Similar criteria apply to Customs checks on cargo from other EU countries.
The Customs Service continuously monitors the movement of passengers and cargo through the airports and in particular it monitors the movement of known or suspected drug smugglers. Because of the constraints on intra-Community checks to which I have referred, Customs now rely on special measures, including intensive gathering of intelligence, close co-operation with airlines and air courier companies, direct personal and computer links to Customs Services in other jurisdictions, as well as profiling and risk analysis techniques to pinpoint suspect consignments and to target the smuggler or suspected smuggler. They also work in close collaboration with the Garda.
Because of the nature of the anti-drugs smuggling measures now employed at the airports, the ordinary traveller from an EU country will generally be unaware of Customs activity and surveillance. The measures taken are nonetheless effective, as evidenced by the level of seizures and arrests made. Since 1993 drugs with an estimated street value of £6.1 million have been seized at the three airports and some of these have been quite substantial. For example, in the past six months, individual seizures of three kilograms of heroin and one kilogram of cocaine have been made at Dublin Airport and a seizure of 148 kilograms of Khat, a drug similar to cannabis, has been made at Shannon Airport. Over the past three years more than 20 people detected by Customs smuggling drugs through Dublin and Shannon Airports have been subsequently charged with these offences in the courts. To date, there have been 15 convictions and jail sentences ranging from three months to six years have been imposed in 13 cases, with further cases still pending before the courts.
In the circumstances, I am satisfied with the present staffing levels at Cork, Shannon and Dublin Airports to combat drug trafficking. Staff numbers assigned to this work at these airports are, of course, kept under review by the Revenue Commissioners.