'Volumes of drugs arriving in Ireland are just ridiculous’

Security sources say Ireland has become a transiting point for illicit drugs while the Irish Naval Service has effectively shrunk

The MV Matthew and its record 2.23 tonne haul of cocaine was seized off the south coast last September. A security source warns that despite the successes of such multi-agency operations, they are not affecting the plentiful supply of illicit drugs on the streets. Picture: Niall Carson/PA 

• This article is part of our Best of 2024 collection. It was originally published in March. Find more stories like this here.

The way successive governments have allowed the Irish Naval Service to wither over the years has been painstakingly documented in the media, including the  Irish Examiner.

It is a subject regularly highlighted in a range of reports and journals, by academics, and navy officers — both former and serving.

More than a year ago, the former head of an EU drug interception agency, MAOC-N, told this newspaper that cuts in the Irish navy at that stage would present “opportunities” to South American cartels.

Michael O’Sullivan, who is also a former assistant commissioner of An Garda Síochána, at the time said: “There are guys in Colombia who are looking for every angle and every way — ships, planes, and submarines — to send drugs over the Atlantic.

“If they see a gap on the North Atlantic route they will send vessels there. The Irish navy doesn’t have the resources and that creates problems.”

Since that time, Ireland has seen a dramatic increase in the amount of cocaine being seized, topped by a record 2.23 tonne haul on board the MV Matthew off the Cork coast in September. 

Last December 300kg of cocaine was seized on board the MV Verila in Foynes, Co Limerick.

UN and EU drug agencies all point to record seizures of cocaine throughout Europe, driven by record production of the drug in South America, more wholesale gangs and more importing European gangs with connections with cartels, greater efficiencies in trafficking, and high demand.

After the Foynes seizure, one experienced Irish drug investigator said Europe was being “bombarded” with cocaine, and that the business model of the cartels and their partners in Europe and the Middle East is to “keep flooding” Europe with cocaine.

They said cartels factored seizures into their profit and loss account. The source said: 

Even when you get the likes of the 2.2 tonne seizure last September, the volume isn’t impacted at street level. They keep throwing tonnes and tonnes of cocaine into Europe.

“So, if they lose 40 shipments to get 100 into Europe, that allows them to ensure supply and keep it cheap. They have been doing this for years, because the volumes we are seeing are just ridiculous.”

Security sources suspect that this week's aborted attempt to import cocaine near the small seaside village of Tragumna was part of this onslaught, with South American cartels, the Lebanese militant organisation Hezbollah, and Iranian criminals suspected of being behind it.

These Middle Eastern gangs — in addition to Balkan, mainly Albanian networks — are dominating much of the cocaine trafficking into Europe.

While a percentage of the hauls would be siphoned for the domestic Irish market, the bulk was for onward distribution — either to the European mainland, or to the British market, via Northern Ireland.

Security sources said a number of smuggling gangs along the border are working “full time” with South American cartels.

If all this was not enough, last month saw a surprising addition to Ireland’s drugs trade, when 543kg of crystal meth was seized in Ringaskiddy — by some distance the biggest haul of that drug in Ireland.

That consignment is suspected of originating in South America and was destined for Australia, highlighting what experts said was Ireland’s use as a “transiting point” to hide the source country to customs at the destination state.

The duties of the Irish Naval Service, and the threats facing it, extend beyond combatting international drug trafficking, to fishery protection, marine protection, monitoring vessels of hostile states, and protecting sub-sea cables and shipping lanes.

Its potential duties could expand significantly to ensure the security of off-shore energy, set to expand considerably over the decades.

Two years ago, the Commission on Defence highlighted the level of underinvestment in the Defence Forces and called for an “accelerated programme” of ship replacement so that there is a balance fleet of nine modern ships by “early in the next decade” — a recommendation accepted by the Government.

There are possible, tentative signs of “green shoots” in terms of recruitment after allowances were doubled, naval accommodation was expanded, and the working time directive implemented.

However, retaining skilled seasoned officers and specialists will be harder.

And yet, there is no Maritime Security Strategy and we still don’t even have the long-awaited National Security Strategy.

“It they publish these strategies, the Government is then under pressure to resource them and they don’t want that,” a security source said. “But look at what’s happening by not doing so.”