Timeline: Ireland's history of major drug seizures

Customs officers, naval service personnel and gardaí removing the 75 bales of cocaine from the yacht, Dances With Waves, at Dinish Island pier, Castletownbere, after the yacht was seized some 180 miles off the south west coast of Ireland in November 2008. Picture: Denis Minihane

The focus on the Castlemore vessel which ran aground off the coast of Wexford is the latest in a series of maritime drug-related incidents in Ireland over the past three decades.

Use of Ireland’s vast coastline, particularly along the south and west, is something which has been happening since at least the early 1990s. Not only can the rugged and jagged nature of the Irish coastline be easily exploited but Ireland’s location at the gateway to Europe makes it a haven for smugglers.