The new data shows that gardai seized cocaine last year to the value of almost 17m, amounting to over 240kg of the illicit drug. The figures show more than a 16fold increase compared to seizures of 1.2m in 2000, when just 18kg of cocaine was recovered by gardai.

Figures released by the Department of Justice last week show a dramatic rise over the past six years in the amount of cocaine entering the state, with seizures rising to 2.2m in 2002 and over 7.5m in 2003.

Law enforcement estimates indicate that police seizures represent one-tenth of the total amount of illicit drugs entering the state at any given time, indicating that the amount of cocaine being trafficked into the state has risen from around 12m in 2000 to approximately 170m last year.

Expatriate Irish criminals operating from continental Europe continue to be the major importers of illegal drugs into the state.

Releasing the figures in the Dail last week, justice minister Michael McDowell said the government's top policing priority for 2006 was to continue to target organised crime, including drug trafficking.

"The trafficking and distribution of all illicit drugs, including cocaine, at local, national and international levels will continue to be vigilantly monitored by the gardai, " McDowell said.