Gardaí probe how gang brought fast boat into Ireland after €31m Cork cocaine haul

During the operation, the LÉ William Butler Yeats was required to intercept a vessel of interest, a Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boat (RHIB) which departed from Broadstrand. Picture: DF Press Office

Gardaí are trying to determine how a Scottish gang behind the foiled attempt to import 440kg of cocaine into Ireland brought their fast boat into the country to collect the drugs from a mothership off Cork on Tuesday.

They are also examining if the same Scottish gang was behind a successful operation earlier in the year, when between 500kg to one tonne of cocaine is suspected of being imported into the west of the country.

Detectives are continuing to question four men who were arrested after the 440kg consignment landed at Broad Strand, near the coastal town of Courtmacsherry.

The four — two Scottish, one English and one German — are described by as “critical logistics” players in the importation.

Meanwhile, Customs are continuing their deep search on the suspected mothership — a bulk cargo carrier coming from South America — after it docked at its scheduled stop at Cork Port to offload legitimate cargo.

None of its crew have been arrested yet, which will depend, to a large degree, if any relevant evidence is found on the massive vessel — which is  200m long and 32m wide.

Two of four men arrested comprised the “maritime team” which collected the drugs from the mothership at sea and brought it to Broad Strand and loaded it into a waiting van.

They were intercepted after a high-speed chase by Naval Service vessels and detained by armed members of the maritime interdiction team.

The other two gang members formed the “landing” or “ground team” which set off in the van carrying the drugs, before they were intercepted by the emergency response unit and the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB) on the way to Courtmacsherry.

Prior to the operational phase, the entire activity of the gang members was being monitored by the Garda National Surveillance Unit.

Gardaí have valued the 440kg haul at €31m. It is the largest seizure of cocaine since the 2.25 tonne haul on board the MV Matthew off the Cork coast in September 2023.

Sources have described the Scottish gang as running a “very smooth operation” but that they were thwarted by intelligence gathered by the DOCB, with significant assistance provided by the EU drug maritime interdiction agency MAOC-N.

Investigators believe the Scottish gang “came in direct” into Ireland on Monday, some of them through Dublin, in contrast to some importation gangs where members rent out properties in their target beach or port before the shipment.

Gardaí do not yet know how this gang got their vessel into the country and have not yet identified one coming in through the ports. 

They are considering the possibility it might have been brought in some time ago.

"Smooth operation"

“This gang ran a very smooth operation,” a security source said. 

“The guys in the boat were dressed all in black, come in slow in the dead of night, low throttle. There’s a van waiting, they loaded the drugs. They made it look very simple.” 

But the national surveillance unit, whose members are highly trained with long experience of spying on subversives, was watching the entire thing.

“They are excellent at what they do,” the source said. “This wouldn’t have happened otherwise.” 

The mothership, registered in Barbados, originally came from Argentina, before stopping at the Canary Islands, from where it travelled to Ireland.

The foreign crew and captain remain on the vessel during the search, which began on Tuesday. 

Sources said it was not clear if there will be any evidence to warrant an arrest.

Meanwhile, during an official visit in Japan, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Courtmacsherry seizure was not the first massive haul of cocaine, citing the MV Matthew haul.

“From what I hear anecdotally, the use and the prevalence of cocaine use has grown significantly, and that is very worrying in terms of the health of the nation and younger people in particular,” Mr Martin said.

He noted that the growing use of cocaine in Ireland was being accompanied by falling consumption of alcohol in the country.