British sought permission to base aircraft in Ireland for use in monitoring suspected drug smugglers

Officials from Britain requested permission to operate a plane crewed by British customs officials from within the jurisdiction as part of operations to track vessels suspected of being involved in drugs trafficking.

The British authorities made several requests to the Irish government during the 1990s to base an aircraft in the south-west of the Republic to carry out anti-drug smuggling surveillance activity, newly released State papers have revealed.

Officials from HM Customs in Britain first requested permission to operate a “spotter” plane crewed by British customs officials from within the jurisdiction as part of operations to track vessels suspected of being involved in drugs trafficking in December 1989.