Gardaí have seized an estimated €35 million worth of cocaine and arrested four men after foiling an international drug smuggling operation off the southwest coast.
Detectives from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) arrested two men near Courtmacsherry in west Cork after they landed half a tonne of cocaine at Broad Strand.
Gardaí arrested two other men on board a boat which was apprehended off the Co Waterford coast by the Naval Service after it had dropped the drugs ashore.
Gardaí were monitoring the operation as the gang landed the drugs at about 4am and loaded the shipment into a van.
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They stopped the van and arrested the two occupants – a Scottish man in his 40s and a German in his 30s – and brought them to Bandon Garda station for questioning.
Meanwhile, officers from GNDOCB arrested two Britons in Waterford after they were apprehended by the Irish Navy ship, LE WB Yeats, during a joint operation which also involved Customs officers.
The Irish Air Corps also had an involvement in the operation with a plane monitoring vessel movements.
The two men are to be questioned at a Garda station in Cork City about the drugs haul, which gardaí believe originated in South America.
All four men have been detained under drugs trafficking legislation which allows gardaí detain suspects for up to seven days before they must be charged or released.
The LE WB Yeats had been stationed in the area to conduct surveillance of the operation. When it became clear the suspects were attempting to flee, two armed boarding parties were deployed from the Yeats in Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIB).
The two naval RHIBs chased down the suspects craft. Following a short pursuit, naval personnel caught the craft and detained the two suspects. No shots were fired.
