Gardaí and customs officials have seized heroin worth €8 million after intercepting a light aircraft at Weston Airport in Dublin.
Two men, aged in their 40s and 60s, were arrested on suspicion of organised crime activity after the drugs were found on Friday morning.
Weston Airport is located 13km west of Dublin city centre, between Lucan and Leixlip, Co Kildare.
Revenue and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau carried out the operation.
Garda Assistant Commissioner Justin Kelly said law enforcement agencies are seeing a global increase in the use of non-commercial flights to smuggle drugs.
"This is a hugely significant seizure of heroin, and the importance of disrupting criminal networks supplying this type of drug into our communities has been reinforced by the recent wave of overdoses in Dublin city centre," he said in a statement.
"This operation shows the importance of multi-agency co-operation, in this case between An Garda Síochána, Irish Customs and the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre (MAOC-N) in Lisbon, Portugal. I wish to commend the dedication and professionalism of all the personnel involved in this complex operation".
