THE search of a Colombian cargo ship detained at Moneypoint, Co Clare, continues this morning as Customs officers prepare to place a value on the 50 kg of cocaine found on board.
The purity of the drug is being assessed at the State Forensic Science Laboratory. If it proves to be about 80 per cent pure as, consignments of cocaine from "source countries" such as Colombia usually are the haul could have a street value of up to £40 million, Customs said.
"It's highly unlikely that it was 20 per cent pure. It was more than likely to be 80 per cent pure and then it would be cut down to be sold on the streets at 20 per cent. If it's 80 per cent pure, you are talking in terms of £40 million," said Mr Liam Hurley, head of the Customs National Drugs Team.
However, Customs was remaining cautious yesterday, officially assuming a value of about £10 million. A "field test" of the consignment has already been carried out at the scene.
The jetty at the ESB power station in Moneypoint remained sealed off yesterday, with the crew of the Front Guider unloading the 140,000 tonnes of coal brought for the plant.
The 28 strong crew, mainly Colombians and Filipinos, remained on board and some were questioned by the team of 22 Customs officers and members of the Garda Drug Squad, who conducted the search.
The ceiling area of the ship's gymnasium where the cocaine was found, was being treated as a crime scene, with Garda technical experts checking for fingerprints and other clues to the identity of the smugglers.
The search is expected to continue for a number of days and the chip may then be allowed to proceed to its next port of call in Norway. By last night there had been no arrests in connection with the find.
A marine engineer contracted by Customs has completed a survey of the 280 metre vessel and identified areas in the structure which could provide further hiding places for drugs. These are now being systematically examined.
Customs said the ship would not sail until officers were certain no more drugs were on board.
The ship arrived in Moneypoint early on Wednesday morning, shadowed by the naval vessel LE Ciara from its entry into Irish waters until it docked at 7 a.m. The search began immediately, with navy divers checking the underside of the ship.
The cocaine found on board was in 38 packages, most of which were about 1 kg in weight.
Customs says it has previously used Garda figures to assign a, street value of about £200,000 to a kilo of cocaine.
On this basis the total value of cocaine seized by Customs last year was only £1,200, with cocaine worth about £95,000 found the previous year and a total of £167,000 worth of the drug seized in 1993.