Medal recognises officer’s bravery in raiding drugs yacht
Minister of state with responsibility for defence, Paul Kehoe, praised the courage of Lieutenant Commander Jamie Cotter for boarding the ship Dances with Waves, which led to the seizure of more than 1.5 tons of cocaine.
The medal is one of only a handful ever presented to a naval service officer.
The proud recipient was just a 26-year-old sub-lieutenant when he boarded the yacht on November 5, 2008.
He led the armed party on a raid during atrocious conditions in the dead of night 250km south-west of Mizen Head in Co Cork.
Mr Kehoe acknowledged “the outstanding work carried out by all involved in this operation, both on land and sea”.
Special mention was given to Commander Eugene Ryan (retired) and to Lieutenant Commander Martin Brett for their demonstration of “exceptional competence, resolve, and dedication to the mission at hand”. They both received commendations.
Mr Kehoe acknowledged that conditions were so bad that night that the boarding operation was “potentially life-threatening” to Lieut Comdr Cotter and the nine men in the RIBs (rigid inflatable boats).
Three weeks prior to the seizure, the naval service was informed of a potential shipment coming past Ireland by the Maritime Analysis & Operations Centre in Lisbon.
The yacht was tracked by satellite as it crossed the Atlantic. Four days before the seizure, LÉ Niamh and LÉ Róisín were set to shadow it by Comdr Ryan, who was head of fleet operations.
A decision was made shortly after 9pm on November 5 to board the 65ft yacht as the weather was deteriorating rapidly and the yacht was not built to cope with a stormy Atlantic.
Lt Comdr Cotter said the waves were so high that the boarding party could not see the target on several occasions on their way to it.
“It was the worst boarding conditions I’ve ever seen in all my time in the Navy,” he said. “But the cox on my RIB was exceptional and we made it on board.”
Incredibly, it took around seven minutes from the time the order was made until the yacht was secured.
Lieut Comdr Brett was watching the events unfold from the bridge of LÉ Niamh.
He had told ex-Comdr Ryan they had to go then, or they would have to postpone it for 24 hours.
“I had full confidence in Jamie,” he said. “What made me extremely happy was there were no injuries and we secured the yacht successfully without the crew scuttling it.
“The drugs [74 bales] were located in a locker down in the aft. It was well hidden under sails and old ropes.”
With the help of gardaí, he worked out that they had seized enough cocaine to make 155m street deals.
“We took this out of circulation and saved many lives,” the senior officer said.
Ex-Comdr Ryan said that while most of the 82% pure cocaine was destined for the British market, he had no doubt that some of it would have ended up on the streets of Ireland.
The three crew members on board the yacht were arrested and charged with possession of the drugs. The following May they were each jailed for 10 years.
Ex-Comdr Ryan was responsible for piecing together that the yacht was destined to unload its illicit cargo off the coast of Anglesea in Wales.
With the aid of gardaí, he was also able to prove that the mastermind behind the operation was John Alan Brooks, an Englishman who lived in Spain. He was sentenced to 28 years in jail.
Operation Seabight was the code name given to the operation, carried out by the naval service in co-operation with An Garda Síochána and Customs agents.
A number of senior ranking gardaí attended yesterday’s ceremony in Haulbowline. Also in attendance was former Assistant Commissioner Tony Quilter, who played an important role in the operation.
In 2013, ex-Comdr Ryan was honoured by Britain’s Serious Organised Crime Agency for his role in seizing the drugs. He is now a Citing Commissioner with the Irish Rugby Football Union and will officiate at the England v Wales 6 Nations clash in Twickenham next Saturday.
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