MAN CHARGED WITH TRAFFICKING IRISH MUSICIANS TO THE USA FOR GIGS
A man was arrested this morning after he was found to be trafficking traditional Irish musicians to the United States to play gigs.
Gardai arrested the man in Dublin Airport this morning after he attempted to smuggle an entire traditional Irish group onto a plane bound for the USA dressed as Trump supporters. It is thought the group would be playing a number of house concerts and other gigs along the East Coast.
The group were exposed at customs pre-clearance after officials raised alarms about the instrument cases they were seen to be carrying. One official told The Drone:
"We saw this group of Trump supporters carrying instrument cases and we knew right away there was something wrong. Trump supporters would never be cultured enough to play music."
"The group were taken aside and their leader was arrested. We found out that he actually worked in the airport and that he was going to be taking a cut from the group's gig money as payment."
The man was taken to court later this afternoon and charged with musician trafficking offences and told to surrender his passport. The music group was sent back to their local pub where they were forced to play for drink.
Gigging in the US has been a source of good business for traditional musicians but authorities are beginning to clamp down on attempts to enter the country without the appropriate visas.
This is not the first case of musician trafficking however. Two years ago a man was arrested trying to smuggle an entire orchestra in a single violin case and was only discovered when the case would not fit in the overhead compartment on the plane.