Crystal meth seizure proof that drug cartels 'are using Ireland as a staging post'

A previous find of drugs including crystal meth. A source has said the half a tonne of suspected meth seized in Cork was the first time authorities 'definitely' established that drugs were being shipped through Ireland to another country. Stock picture: An Garda Síochána

Gardaí investigating the seizure of a landmark haul of crystal meth in the Port of Cork say the seizure is proof that Ireland is now being used as a “staging post” by international drug smuggling cartels.

As officers continued on Monday night to question two men who had been arrested in Kerry following Friday’s seizure, it is expected that a decision to either release or charge them in connection with the €32.8m haul will not be made until Wednesday.

Searches of a number of premises in Kerry, as well as one in Waterford, have been completed, according to gardaí.

Items retrieved in the searches will now be analysed for any clues that could lead investigators to the source of the synthetic drug.

It is understood that business continued as normal on Monday at a large business premises in Kerry which was searched on Friday.

Gardaí confirmed a search also took place at a commercial premises in Waterford on Sunday.

They would not reveal the link to the operation but a source said: “It was possibly more of an ancillary search. I don’t believe there was anything significant there but it did take place.”

International enquiries are also taking place as the drug is understood to have been transported via Cork and was destined for Australia, gardaí believe.

The source said: “It would be unusual — it is certainly the first time that we have definitely, concretely, identified that we are sort of a staging post, as in product has come in that is not destined for here [Ireland] at all and due to head out separately. That is our understanding.

“There would have been crystal meth seizures in the past in some amounts in Ireland but nothing of this level. And none of this was particularly destined for this market. It was just transiting through.

“There is no indication now that it was processed here. We did explore that at the beginning but do not believe so now.”

Gardaí say there is a significant international element to the operation, with the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico believed to be linked to it.

A senior figure in the cartel, Morris O’Shea Salazar, spent a number of his teenage years in Killorglin, Co Kerry, after the death of his father in a car crash in Mexico.

He was named last July in a Chilean court as a leader of a cell of the Sinaloa cartel that tried to organise to transport drugs to Europe from Chile through ports and airports.

The two men in custody on Monday night had their period of detention extended by 72 hours from Sunday morning, during a special court sitting of the district court in Kerry on Saturday.

The men, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are being held under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act.