Wild coast sinks drugs delivery
They ended up discovering a huge drugs consignment — one of the biggest in the State’s history — as it became clear that an attempt to bring contraband ashore via the south-west coast had gone spectacularly wrong.
Little did the Goleen and Castletownbere lifeboat crews know as they put out to sea, after the alarm was raised by a man who had swam ashore from an upturned inflatable rib, that they were about to stumble upon up to €200 million worth of cocaine.
The stretch of coastline between Three Castles Head and Mizen Head will join other spots dotted along our shores on a roll of infamy, locations where drugs have washed up and been found, abruptly halting their journey to eager markets throughout Europe.
Ireland’s most southerly point, the Mizen peninsula, hosts some of our wildest coastline, the water regularly the scene of huge swells and the most challenging of winds — as the men aboard the inflatable rib found to their cost on Sunday night/Monday morning.
The full extent of the haul found off the Cork coast may not reveal itself for some days yet, but it’s already clear — and the dramatic pictures of 3ft by 1ft bales being brought ashore confirm — that this aborted delivery was the work of a leading gang, spreading its tentacles far and wide.
Famed for its beauty, the south-west coast of Ireland has long attracted visitors of all hues and nationalities, attracted to its rugged shores and its isolated land and seascapes.
But another more sinister attraction has also manifested itself at times over the years as this part of Ireland’s coastal frontier has sometimes been like a magnet to drug-runners and contraband. Sometimes by accident, such as the infamous Sea Mist episode, or sometimes by design — the craggy coves have been the subject of rumoured landings of drugs onto quiet, isolated beaches in the dead of night, away from prying, official eyes.
It’s only when something goes wrong for the drugs gangs, and their webs of foot-soldiers, that the issue hits public consciousness.
Like the dramatic events off west Cork yesterday, or back in 1996 in Cork harbour when some engine trouble on board a converted trawler sparked off a series of events that culminated almost 11 years later in the 30-year sentence handed down to international drugs mastermind Brian “Brendan” Wright.
Back then, the €125m haul of cocaine found on board the Sea Mist represented the biggest drugs find in Ireland’s history, and prompted the break-up of a huge international criminal network.
Originally a Norwegian trawler, the Sea Mist was converted into a 60ft yacht and, in September 1997, was forced to dock near Cobh after experiencing some engine trouble. Finally dropping anchor at Aghada, the craft quickly came under suspicion and was put under surveillance by customs officials, gardaí and the Navy.
Eventually, with the help of a sniffer dog named Rusty, bale after bale of cocaine was uncovered on board the Sea Mist.
Skipper Gordon Richards, from Brighton, was one of five people on board to be arrested and he received a 17-year sentence.
However, it was long suspected that the brains behind the operation was Corkman Wright, a notorious drugs smuggler known as The Milkman — because he always delivered.
A former self-styled socialite, with a box at Royal Ascot and many links throughout the racing world, Wright long maintained that his income was derived through the racing industry.
However, the law caught up with him and he was arrested in 2005.
Earlier this year, at the age of 60, he was sentenced to prison for 30 years after being found guilty on charges of conspiring to supply drugs, and conspiring to evade prohibition on the supply of drugs.
The Sea Mist case was hailed as a notable coup for the authorities in this country, but there have been other dramatic hauls around the south and west coasts over the years. It came a little more than a month after 50kg of cocaine, worth about €40m, was found in Moneypoint, Co Clare, on board the Swedish-owned Front Guider.
The previous year, a 20kg bale of cocaine was washed up at Fanore beach in Clare.
Also in 1995, fishermen off the Hook Head ended up with an unusual catch when 180kg of cannabis got caught up in fishing nets.
Other hauls have been uncovered in locations such as the Old Head of Kinsale, Courtmacsherry, Rosscarbery, Tragumna, Loop Head and Ringaskiddy.
But how many drug-laden boats have proceeded without check, landing quietly and without attracting attention on our coast, or travelling farther along into Britain, before divesting themselves of their illegal cargo, for the next stage of transportation to the farthest reaches of the Continent?
Drug consignments found on our coasts:
* July 1991, Courtmacsherry, Co Cork, 700kg cannabis resin found on the ‘Karma of the East’ yacht.
* October 1992, Ringaskiddy, €3 million worth of cannabis found.
* December 1992, Cork Harbour, 50kg of cannabis resin thrown overboard from a boat.
* January 1993, Tragumna, Co Cork, €1.6 million worth of cannabis resin seized.
* June 1993, Tragumna, 700kg cannabis resin found on the ‘Tangle Wind’ yacht.
* July 1993, off Loop Head, two tonnes of cannabis resin, worth €25 million, found after the ‘Brime’ was intercepted by the LÉ Orla.
* November 1993, €15 million worth of cannabis found 60 miles off the Old Head of Kinsale.
* November 1994, off Old Head of Kinsale, two separate hauls of cannabis resin trawled by fishing boats.
* March 1995, Fanore, Co Clare, 20kg of cocaine washed up.
* August 1996, Moneypoint, Co Clare, 50kg of cocaine found on board the ‘Front Guider’.
* September 1996, Cork Harbour, €125 million worth of cocaine found on board the Sea Mist.
* September 1998, Kinsale, 320kg of cocaine found on board the ‘Gemeos’ catamaran.
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