Spanish police claim they 'detained yacht with cocaine on board'

Spanish police testified in Cork today that they detained the 'Lucky Day' yacht and arrested the two crewmen on board - four days after €440m worth of cocaine were discovered off the coast of West Cork.

The jury of nine men and three women were told that there was a ban on publicising the names of two Spanish officers who could only be identified by their officer identification numbers. Judge Seán Ó'Donnabháin told them that the reason for this had nothing to do with the trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court but was to do with Spanish law.

Officer 77385 stated that the Lucky Day was detained at La Caruna in Spain on July 6 2007.

He said that the crewman with whom he dealt was not interviewed and only made a statement through his solicitor, effectively consisting of a statement that he would not be making a statement.

The second officer, identified as 90107, was asked by defence senior counsel Padraig Dwyer for defendant, Martin Wanden, if forensic examination of the boat yielded any evidence that the boat carried 1,500 kilos of cocaine in Hessian sacks and he said it did not.

Three Englishmen, Perry Wharrie, aged 48, of 60 Pyrles Lane, Essex, England, Martin Wanden, aged 45, of no fixed abode, and Joseph Daly, aged 41 from 9 Carrisbrook Avenue, Bexley, Kent, all deny the charges of possessing cocaine, possessing it with intent to sell or supply, and having it for sale or supply when its street value exceeded €13,000 on July 2 2007 at Dunlough Bay, Mizen, Goleen, Co Cork.

Their lawyers indicated to the jury today following some legal discussion in the jury’s absence that they were prepared to concede that the three defendants had been lawfully arrested, lawfully detained, their rights were complied with during detention and the period of detention was extended in accordance with the regulations. The jury was told that these four concessions related to arrest and detention would save some time in the trial.

Commander Eugene Ryan of the Irish Navy, was asked by An Garda Siochana to make certain calculations based on information which they supplied to him. Based on this information, Commander Ryan calculated that a yacht travelling from Barbados to West Cork – a distance of over 3,300 miles – would take 26 days at a speed of 5.1 knots.