A JOINT Garda-Revenue investigation which led to the arrest of five men suspected of assisting a major global operating drugs gang continues this Friday morning.
Four of the men were arrested by Gardaí at Meenogahane, County Kerry, in the early hours of this past Monday, the fifth man was detained on board a cargo ship sailing on the Shannon Estuary on Wednesday.
This man was traveling on board a vessel named the Royal, sources said.
According to maritime tracking software, the Royal was sailing under a Maltese flag that left Trombetas Port, Brazil, on December 27, destined for Aughinish, County Limerick, on January 12.
The ship, which was carrying a legitimate cargo, remained anchored in the Estuary near Kilrush, County Clare on Thursday.
Gardaí said all five men aged between their 20s and 40s were being held at Garda stations on suspicion of “facilitating or enhancing a criminal organisation to commit a serious offence”.
“The investigation involves officers from the Revenue Customs Service supported by Gardaí attached to the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau,” Gardaí added.
Gardaí were working on a theory that a person/persons assisting a crime group moved a substantial amount of drugs off a large vessel to a smaller boat at a stretch of water located off the Kerry coast early on Monday morning (January 13).
Gardaí do not believe the larger vessel was aware of the movement of the drugs and continued on a scheduled sailing path.
Gardaí suspect the drugs were being routed through Ireland from South America to be transported into mainland Europe and were no longer in the Irish jurisdiction.
A number of men were arrested by Gardaí in a rib as they docked at a pier at Meenogahane at around 4am on Monday.
A range of items were seized from a rib that the men were sailing in, including night vision equipment, satellite navigation tools, and encrypted mobile phones.
A number of boats were searched but it’s understood no drugs were found.
A Revenue Customs spokeswoman confirmed that “a joint operation conducted by Revenue’s Custom Service and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) commenced on 13th January 2025”.
“As this operation is ongoing, no further information is available at this time,” the spokeswoman added.
