Armed naval team seize €100m in cocaine from yacht off Irish coast

By Eoin English

The Irish Naval Service has seized cocaine with a street value of up to €100m on a yacht off the Irish coast after a major intelligence-led operation.

Two naval vessels, the LE Niamh and the LE Roisin, are now escorting the yacht Makayabella to naval service headquarters in Haulbowline in Cork Harbour where they are expected to arrive amid tight security later this evening.

The Irish Navy ship, LE Niamh, with the yacht, Makayabella. Picture: Defence Forces

An armed boarding party stormed the yacht on Tuesday 200 miles (320km) off Mizen Head, soon after it entered Irish waters. The vessel had been tracked as it sailed from the Caribbean. The operation was kept secret while investigations continued.

[comment] Commercial photo of the yacht 'Makayabella', boarded in the operation. [/comment]

They found up to 40 bales of cocaine stashed on board, with a potential street value of up to €100m.

Three men on board, who are believed to have UK passports, have been taken in to custody.

The drugs bust is the latest in a series of high-profile drug seizures executed by the Irish Defence Forces Naval Service.

In the last six years, it has intercepted some €1.2bn worth of drugs in Irish waters in a series of daring counter-narcotics operations.

In a statement his evening from the Defence Forces and Revenue, they said the operation was a joint mission comprising members of the Revenue Customs Service, Naval Service and An Garda Síochána.

The interception followed intelligence from the National Crime Agency in the UK and the French custom service, through the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre based in Lisbon.

[comment] File photo of a naval team in training for boarding operations. Pic: Denis Minihane[/comment]

Defence Minister Simon Coveney congratulated all the agencies involved in what he described as a highly successful drug interdiction operation.

“As Minister for Defence, I wish to congratulate the Naval Service for its pivotal role in the success of this operation and, in particular, to commend the Officers Commanding LE Niamh and LE Roisin and their respective crews,” he said.

“I also wish to acknowledge the role of the Air Corps in providing top-cover support during the operation.”

The yacht Makayabella arriving at the Naval Base, Haulbowline

The yacht was towed into the base by the Naval Service sail training yacht Creidne.

The passage around the south west coast of Ireland has been well used in recent times by drugs smugglers bringing shipments from South America and Africa into Europe.

In 2007, a record €440m worth of cocaine was seized in Dunlough Bay in west Cork when a UK gang botched an attempt to bring the massive haul ashore on a smaller boat and capsized in rough weather.

Most of the group, including two Englishmen, were arrested in follow up operations and eventually given lengthy prison sentences.

Just a year later, a €400m haul was intercepted on the Dances With Waves yacht about 150 miles off Mizen Head.

Three British men on board were later jailed for 10 years each for their part in the plot.

Statement from the Defence Forces and Revenue:

The Inter Agency operation was conducted using two naval vessels and interagency personnel, at night and in challenging conditions between 200 and 300 miles West South West of Mizen Head.

The L.E. NIAMH supported by LE ROISIN positively identified a suspect vessel in a covert surveillance operation. The decision was made by the JTF situated in the Naval Operations Command Centre in Haulbowline to deploy an armed Naval boarding party, which resulted in the successful detention by Revenue’s Customs Service of the yacht, suspected contraband and the crew of three.

After Naval Service personnel secured the vessel, members of An Garda Síochána and Revenue’s Customs Service were transferred to the yacht and conducted a search of the vessel, which is currently under escort by Naval vessels to an Irish port.

The quantity and type of contraband will be reviewed once the vessel has been brought to port.

The operation was based on intelligence provided by the National Crime Agency in the UK and the French customs service DNRED via the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre - Narcotics (MAOC (N)) based in Lisbon.

MAOC-N is an initiative by 7 EU Member Countries: France, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Portugal and the UK, with financial support from the Prevention against Crime Programme of the European Union, European Commission - Directorate - General Home Affairs. The Centre provides a forum for multi-lateral cooperation to suppress illicit drug trafficking by sea and air.