Gardaí probe Kinahan link to €12m Cork cocaine haul 

Gardaí are investigating if the Kinahan crime cartel or some other major trafficking gang was behind what is the biggest haul of cocaine in Ireland in recent years.

Gardaí are investigating if the Kinahan crime cartel or some other major trafficking gang was behind what is the biggest haul of cocaine in Ireland in recent years.

Officers are examining if the 172kgs, uncovered in searches in Ringaskiddy Port, Cork, was destined for separate markets in Europe and are investigating if the ship was due to dock in a number of ports.

A photograph published by Garda HQ shows a least one of the blocks seized had a shamrock on it. Sources said an examination will be conducted on wrappings and markings on the blocks.

The haul, valued at €12m, was the result of a joint intelligence operation between the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and Revenue.

It is thought Revenue will assist in examining the ship’s route and both Gardaí and Revenue will liaise with international law enforcement agencies to gather intelligence on possible ports the cocaine was bound for and what gangs may have been involved.

Sources said they were satisfied the 210-metre Maersk Nimes vessel took a similar route to previous shipments, originating from Costa Rica, Central America.

In August 2018, authorities in Costa Rica confiscated 133kgs of cocaine in a cargo ship, Polar Chile, in Limon, bound for Cork port. That consignment was linked to the Kinahan cartel.

“We will investigate what organised crime groups were involved and part of that will be to establish if it’s the Kinahan group or another group,” said one source.

Multiple ports

Sources said similar shipments tend to stop in several European ports and Cork may have been just one.

“This vessel could have been stopping in Ireland and going to other ports, so Ireland could be just one stopping point,” said a source.

This might suggest that a European organised crime group, other than the Kinahan cartel, could be behind the shipment and that Irish crime gangs were among various purchasers.

The haul has an estimated street value of €12m, but gardaí believe the cocaine would be of very high purity.

That could be cut down four or five times for street dealing purity, so you are really looking at multiples of that value.

The last major seizures of cocaine were last September (50kgs), last June (62kgs) and, prior to that, 66kgs in November 2018.

Last September, the EU drugs agency (Emcdda) reported record hauls in 2017 and again in 2018, adding that “cocaine availability in Europe is at an unprecedented level”.