Irish gangs involved in 'large-scale' cocaine trafficking from South America  

Almost 2.8 tonnes of cocaine have been seized by Customs in Ireland so far this year. Picture: iStock

Irish gangs are among a growing number of networks in Europe involved in “large- scale” cocaine trafficking from South America.

The EU drugs agency said these European gangs “tend to pool their resources” in a network of co-operation, which investigators suspect is the case in the two-tonne importation intercepted off the Cork coast.

Almost 2.8 tonnes of cocaine have been seized by Customs in Ireland so far this year — a multiple of annual totals in recent years, boosted by the 2.2 tonne haul in Irish waters two weeks ago.

Revenue figures provided to the Irish Examiner also show:

• Some 2.76 tonnes was seized up to the end of September, with an estimated street value of €193m;
• 133kg (0.133 tonnes) was confiscated in 2022, with an estimated value of €9.3m;
• 800kg (0.8 tonnes) was recovered in 2021, with an estimated value of €56m;
• 101kg (0.101 tonnes) was seized in 2020, worth an estimated €7m;
• 63kg (0.063 tonnes) was recovered in 2019, with an estimated value of €4.4m.

Many of the seizures, including the record haul two weeks ago, were made as part of a joint operation with the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

This year’s total includes 530kg of cocaine that was seized before the 2.23 tonnes on board the MV Matthew container ship.

It also includes large seizures in Rosslare and Cork ports, such as 60kg of cocaine found inside a freight container at Ringaskiddy Port, Cork.

In July, Rosslare Port saw a 163kg haul of cocaine and a 133kg seizure of the drug.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has reported a “strong increase” in the amount of cocaine seized in Europe, including at a number of smaller ports across northern Europe and in Ireland, citing Dublin, Rosslare, and Cork ports.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction said that South American cartels, in a bid to avoid tighter security at major ports, are targeting smaller ports — and that this “may well” include Ireland.

Its latest report, on drug markets and gun violence, says that while once South American cartels and Italian mafia monopolised large-scale cocaine trafficking, new players are increasingly participating in the lucrative market.

It said these include “Albanian-speaking, British, Dutch, French, Irish, Moroccan, Serbian, Spanish, and Turkish” organised crime groups and that these groups “tend to pool their resources within a network of co-operation to organise the trafficking and distribution of cocaine throughout Europe”.

It also said that while production continues to increase in Colombia, the supply into Europe has also increased because competition between the various criminal networks has “intensified”.

To date, eight men have been charged in relation to the massive cocaine seizure two weeks ago.

They hail from countries including the Philipines, Ukraine, Iran, Holland, and Britain and have faced charges ranging from conspiracy to import drugs to possession of cocaine for sale or supply.

The haul had an initial value of €157m but it may have a street value of some €500m once it has been cut, or diluted, with cheaper substances.

The 190m Panamanian-registered bulk cargo vessel is currently under armed guard at Marino Point in Cork harbour.

Meanwhile, the HSE has said that, despite concerns that fentanyl may have been present in recent doses here, it has not yet seen any signs of the deadly opiate drug in Ireland.

Nonetheless, health authorities are setting up a new early warning system to help detect the emergence of such synthetic opiates.

The HSE said the situation is being closed monitored by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction and by local officials in Ireland.