Two Dutchmen have been jailed in Ireland for their role in a cannabis smuggling ring, Irish media report.

A 24-year-old man from Vlaardingen was given a nine-year jail term for transporting cannabis and marijuana with a street value of €5m.

The second man, who is 73, was jailed for six years. He claims to have travelled spontaneously to Ireland with the younger man ‘to do some work’ but had no knowledge of the drugs.

An Irish national was jailed for six years for his role in the smuggling ring.

The older Dutchman was followed by police when he drove a van to a Dublin branch of the Ikea furniture store. He stood out because he was a ‘large, elderly man wearing a Stetson cowboy hat’, local media reports said.

He met the two other defendants at the store and then drove with them to a warehouse. Police found 72 kilos of drugs in the van and a further 225 kilos hidden in a consignment of rice.