10 episodes · 9th February 2009
This week on Customs, a suspicious passenger makes a bolt for the exit, a live snake is discovered in luggage at Dublin Port, an undercover operation halts a cigarette smuggling scam at Dublin Airport and in Cork the customs anti-evasion unit chase down UK registered cars. In Dublin Airport, undercover officers track two people who they suspect to be running a cigarette smuggling operation via the skies of Europe to supply the Irish black market. Veteran Officer Declan Smyth leads the covert customs team who follow the suspicious pair to the airport car park where they find some surprising contents in their luggage. Over at Dublin Port, Officer Martin Rogers meets an unusual passenger. It's his first encounter with a Colombian Rainbow Boa - and he's not too impressed.
This week on Customs, it's all hands on deck as officers search a huge cargo ship for illegal goods, the team at the Port check out an army of Welsh rugby fans and in Cork the hunt is on for illegal fuel users. Robbie's anti-evasion unit track illegal fuel users in Cork where a check point targets people using green agricultural diesel in their cars. At Dublin Port, Martin Rogers and his team take on a massive cargo ship in a major search operation. With 62 containers on board the job takes its toll on the search unit, who work long into the night. Dog handler Andrea Leamy and her dog Thatcher put 1200 Welsh rugby fans through their paces as they arrive at Dublin Port, and sniffs out a few suspects. Down in Rosslare, a Officer Dinny Lawlor's dog Dillon gets into a state of distraction but the team persevere.
This week on Customs, a stash of cash turns up in hand luggage at Dublin Airport, the Cork team raid a busy market, the cutter crew search for a bale of cocaine and a roadblock at Dublin Airport nets a haul of smuggled cigarettes. A passenger heading to the UK through Dublin Airport has more than a toothbrush in their hand luggage. Hundreds of thousands of Euro are packed in two plastic bags inside their rucksack. A busy North Cork market is the focus of a Customs team search and they get a result - one stallholder is selling smuggled cigarettes. They seize 6,000 cigarettes and his van, but return the vehicle to him when he pays a fine. Down in Wexford, Customs officers are searching onshore and at sea for bales of cocaine. The Customs cutter patrols the rugged coastline, trying to find the bales in case they wash ashore and fall into the wrong hands. Gardai, Airport Police and Customs officers set up a joint road block at Dublin Airport's only exit. Random searches yield a haul of smuggled cigarettes, some concealed inside the false bottom of a suitcase and thousands more wrapped in the passenger's belongings.
This week on Customs, the specially-trained Customs dogs step into the limelight. Drugs or large amounts of cash can't escape these canine experts - they check out passengers waiting for planes, buses crossing from the Republic to the North, baggage on carousels at the airports, and sacks full of packages at the mail sorting centre. Dog handler Andrea Leamy and her springer spaniel Thatcher are on border duty at Dundalk Bus Station. Thatcher detects a suspicious bag on board the bus, and afterwards finds a lump of cannabis nearby, possibly discarded by one of the passengers. Cash dog, Storm, is on duty at Dublin Airport and sniffs out €10,000 in a passenger's bag. It's illegal to take this amount of money outside the European Union without making a declaration. The passenger says he wants to buy equipment abroad, and after completing the paperwork he is allowed to continue his journey. At the An Post distribution centre in Dublin, the legendary canine senses come up trumps again when two different consignments of cannabis are detected inside sealed packages.
This week on Customs, the Airport team stop a man from smuggling thousands of sleeping tablets, another passenger dumps a suitcase and bolts for the exit and up north the border unit crack down on illegal diesel. Martin Rogers and his team carry out dawn raids on houses across Dublin looking for smuggled tobacco. Martin's patch is Metropolitan Dublin and often finding the stash of illegal goods is like looking for a needle in a haystack. At Dublin Airport €40,000 worth of prescription-only sleeping tablets show up in a passenger's luggage. Limovan is taken by serious drug users to assist in coming down off a high. It's only available from a doctor here in Ireland but in Spain you can buy as much as you like over the counter, which is exactly what one Irish passenger did, but got caught bringing in thousands of the pills in their suitcase. Also at the airport, a nervous passenger was spotted by some observant customs officers acting suspiciously in the baggage claim area. He was waiting until all the other passengers went through but a veteran officer wasnt fooled by the oldest trick in the book and pulled the baggage into the X Ray machine. It was full of cannabis. Meanwhile the man tried unsucessfully to bolt for the exit but was tackled to the ground by rookie officer Ken.
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