Two men and a woman with overseas addresses were being questioned in Dublin last night in connection with the seizure of cocaine with a street value of more than £750,000.
A man aged 27 and a woman of 52 were arrested after 7 kg of the drug was found in a room at the Clifton Court hotel at O'Connell Bridge. It was found sealed in the wooden frames of paintings.
In a joint operation by the Garda National Drug Unit and the Customs, another man, aged 40, was arrested in a follow-up operation in the city.
The three are being held at Store Street Garda station under Section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act, which means they can be held for up to seven days without charge.
The drug consignment originated in South America, and according to i, gardai, was to have been sold here and in Britain. It was transported to Ireland by couriers and gardai believe that it was about to be given to a dealer in the hotel.
Sources said the route used had been closely watched by the authorities in recent months and had been used for previous shipments to the Republic.
The man and woman arrested have addresses in South Africa, while the third man has an address in Amsterdam.
The drug involved was Colombian flake, which has a high purity and has been imported into the Republic on numerous occasions. The seizure, originally believed to be worth about £1.5 million, is one of the biggest made so far this year.
Recent falls in the price of cocaine mean it is now a far more widely-used drug than before.
National Drug Unit sources recently estimated that lines of cocaine were being sold in Dublin for about £10 each.