Gardaí and Revenue Commissioners have said there has been a substantial increase in the quantity of drugs being seized at Dublin Airport.
Over three million euro worth of cocaine and cannabis has been seized at the airport in the last two weeks.
Eight people have been arrested and charged.
Ireland has become a major market for cannabis and cocaine and is increasingly being targeted by South American cartels and Asian criminal gangs.
Gardaí said that those being caught are the poor and the desperate, many from the shanty towns of South America.
They are usually paid around €1,000 per journey but in some cases have to stuff or swallow up to €100,000 worth of cocaine, 100 capsules.
The cannabis is likely hidden in suitcases and detected by Revenue sniffer dogs.
Suitcases can contain up to €350,000 worth of cannabis.
Gardaí said mid-level organised crime groups in Ireland are now establishing contacts and smuggling routes with the South American cartels and Asian gangs and that almost all of the drugs seized at the airport are destined for the Irish market.
The Revenue Commissioners said they seized a total of almost €45m worth of drugs last month, almost €170m for the year so far, almost two and a half times the amount of €75m seized in the same period last year.
