GARDAÍ arrested six men today (Friday) in connection with the largest seizure of cocaine in the Mid West region last Tuesday.
The six men, who range in age from their 30s to their 50s, were arrested by Gardaí investigating the discovery of €21million (300kg) worth of cocaine on board a Maltese registered bull cargo ship, Verila, at Foynes Port, County Limerick.
“The six men, aged 50, 46, 44, 41, 35, and 32 years, were arrested for the offence of importation of controlled drugs contrary to Section 15(b) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977/84 as amended by Section 82 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 and are all detained at Garda stations in the Limerick Division,” a Garda statement read.
“The search of the vessel, which is being led by officials from Revenue Customs Service, is ongoing at this time. Investigations are ongoing,” it added.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said her “top priority” is to ensure Gardaí in Limerick and beyond are resourced enough to dismantle gangs involved in flooding the country with cocaine, and other harmful illegal drugs.
The Minster, speaking through a spokesman, said that Gardaí collaborating with international police agencies was “key” in trying stamp out the drugs scourge from the Shannon Estuary and the country’s surrounding coastline.
Ms McEntee was commenting in response to criticism of her and the government from local Independent Emmett O’Brien, who last Wednesday said his warnings since 2018 about supply levels of cocaine along the Shannon Estuary had been “ignored” by the Minister and the government, that the Gardaí and the naval services had been under-resourced, and that Minister McEntee had treated rank and file Gardaí with “compete disregard”.
The Minister’s spokesman said that “tackling drug dealing and associated criminal activity, including by organised crime groups is a top priority for An Garda Síochána and the Government.”
“It is a priority for An Garda Síochána to disrupt and dismantle organised crime gangs and drug dealing operations, and to remove illegal drugs from circulation,” he said.
The spokeman said the “seizure in Foynes is an example of this in action and Minister McEntee would like to thank An Garda Síochána and Revenue for their work in stopping this large shipment of cocaine reaching communities in the Mid-West and beyond.”
“This follows one of the biggest ever seizures of drugs in Ireland off the South East Coast back in September and An Garda Síochána are consistently making smaller seizures all over the country every day.”
This past September a record cocaine haul was seized when the Panama-flagged MV Matthew ship was intercepted off the coast of County Cork by the LÉ William Butler Yeats naval ship, assisted by Army Ranger wing personnel.
When the vessel was searched, 2,253kg of cocaine, worth €157 million, the largest cocaine seizure by weight in Irish history, was discovered.
