Three men arrested upon arrival at Waterford Airport

Three men have appeared before the High Court after they were arrested under European warrants issued by Swedish authorities, An Garda Síochána has said.

One Lithuanian man in his 30s and two Swedish men in their 50s were arrested after disembarking from an aircraft that had arrived from Belgium via an airfield in the UK on February 23rd.

Upon arrival to Ireland at about 11am that day, the plane was met and searched by Waterford gardaí, personnel from Revenue and Customs, and a Customs dog. A number of mobile phones and €9,000 in cash were seized.

The identities of the men were confirmed with the UK National Crime Agency, Interpol and Swedish police.

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The three men on board were arrested for alleged offences under section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 and were detained under section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007 at Garda stations in the southeast.

The aircraft remains detained by An Garda Síochána.

Prior to arriving in Ireland, the aircraft had landed in the UK where members of the UK National Crime Agency intercepted a car in the vicinity of this airfield. Some 50kg of cocaine with an estimated value of €3.5 million was seized.

A male was arrested by members of the UK National Crime Agency, subsequently charged, and he appeared before court.

On Sunday, February 27th, the three men were released. However, they were re-arrested on foot of European arrest warrants issued by the Swedish authorities.

They appeared before the High Court in Dublin on Monday, February 28th, in respect of the European arrest warrants

The men have been remanded in custody to appear again before the High Court on March 11th.

Gardaí said on Thursday investigations were ongoing in respect of the initial arrests between the UK, Swedish and Interpol counterparts and a file would be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.