Gardaí believe a haul of cocaine, possibly worth up to €100 million, was brought ashore on the southwest coast and has since been smuggled to Britain, possibly on a ferry that left from Northern Ireland.
Although five men have been arrested in the Republic, gardaí now strongly suspect another group of criminals they were working with managed to land the drugs and transport the haul across the country and into Britain.
Garda sources stressed the international investigation to find the gang members, and the drugs, was ongoing, and that it may take some time before a more complete picture emerges.
Gardaí initially had not ruled out the possibility that the drugs, which were unloaded on to rigid inflatable boats (Ribs) from a larger vessel off the coast of Co Kerry, had been lost at sea. However, the strongest line of inquiry now is that a second group of smugglers took delivery of the drugs on shore and moved the haul quickly. Gardaí believe the large consignment of cocaine was always destined for the UK.
It is now believed two groups were involved in collecting the drugs and bringing them ashore – one of which went to sea and another which took possession of the consignment on shore and transported it to Britain.
Four men arrested in the early hours of Monday, and who are still being questioned, are suspected of being involved in the transfer of the drugs at sea from the Maltese-registered bulk carrier, MV Royal, on to a Rib. However, the group that then took possession of the drugs on shore has, to date, evaded detection.
Gardaí from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau arrested the four men after they came ashore in a small boat at an isolated pier at Meenogahane near Ballyheigue in North Kerry at about 5.20am on Monday. Their boat was empty, with no drugs discovered.
However, gardaí believe the four men, who put to sea from Meenogahane at about midnight on Sunday, collected the cocaine dropped from the MV Royal and landed the consignment elsewhere along the west coast before returning to the isolated pier.
One of those arrested is a 30-year-old fisherman from Derry, while the others, who are in their 30s and 40s, include two men from Scotland and a Serbian national living in Manchester. All are being detained under organised crime legislation which allows gardaí to hold suspects for up to seven days.
Gardaí seized a number of encrypted mobile phones as well as night vision and satellite navigation equipment when they arrested the four men at Meenogahane, The equipment has been sent for examination by garda IT experts in the hope it will show where the men had sailed.
In a follow-up operation on Wednesday night, gardaí and Customs officers boarded the MV Royal lying at anchor in the Shannon Estuary and arrested a 28-year-old member of the crew on suspicion that he was involved in the dropping off of the suspected cocaine consignment.
The MV Royal left Porto Trombestas, an inland port in northern Brazil located on a tributary of the Amazon, approximately 1,000km from the sea, on December 27th. It arrived off the Irish coast on Sunday before making for Foynes where it arrived on January 12th with a cargo of woodchip.
Gardaí believe the four men arrested in Meenagohane had been staying in Waterville in South Kerry. They bought a small boat on Done Deal for €10,000 cash in Kenmare after a Rib they had brought with them was damaged at Caladh Pier near St Finian’s Bay.
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