LAST UPDATE | 15 Jan

GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING AN alleged international drug smuggling operation in Kerry believe a large quantity of drugs is floating in the Atlantic and may make landfall. 

They are also continuing to monitor the movements of a ship which they believe acted as the mothership for the failed transfer of drugs off the west coast. 

Sources have said that it forms a major part of a major international law enforcement mission, including intelligence analysts from European anti-drug trafficking agency MAOC-N in Portugal, and led by Customs and anti-organised crime Gardaí here in Ireland.

The operation has been underway for several days and involved specialist undercover gardaí from the National Surveillance Unit (NSU).

At one point, The Journal has learned, that a crash involving suspects in the alleged drugs trafficking plot near Cahersiveen in Kerry prompted a local garda to be called to the scene.

Unbeknownst to that local officer, members of the Garda National Surveillance Unit (NSU) were not just watching but it is also believed a listening device was also planted on the vehicle. 

The officer went through the process of a so-called “material damage only” road collision response, helping the motorists to swap details and noting the participants in the incident for a PULSE entry.

Gardaí do not routinely investigate non-injury road collisions – their role is to make sure that details are exchanged. It is a daily occurrence for gardaí all over the country – however in this instance the details taken by the local garda have proved critical to that much bigger investigation.  

The garda left the scene and went to his next call but the secret operation continued, with the senior gardaí from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau continuing their work. 

The NSU continued their mission, monitoring and watching as the alleged drug traffickers moved towards the point where they planned to take possession of the drugs. 

‘The mothership’

Somewhere off the west coast there was another operation underway – it is understood that the Naval Service backed up by their law enforcement colleagues were monitoring a cargo ship.

This was the ‘mothership’ – a vessel which was due to call to an Irish port but which had a different goal also, namely transferring a large quantity of drugs. 

Gardaí and Customs were monitoring the movements through open source means also – tracking it through its transponder signal.

The Irish authorities were watching its movements and at some point over the weekend the men who had been involved in the car crash also took to the water.

It is understood they had purchased a secondhand Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boat (RHIB), thought to be worth close to €10,000 and it was this they were planning to use.

Sources have said that the men were not hugely sophisticated in their seafaring abilities and were haphazard in how they were dealing with the operation. It is believed they had been renting a holiday home in the area. 

In the darkness and cold of Sunday night and Monday morning they left a location on the coastline of North Kerry and the gardaí and other services watched them in the early hours of the morning on Monday.

They had removed seats on the RHIB and left them behind on the isolated quayside. It is suspected this was to make room for the load. 

GPS and messages

It is understood that the investigators are aware that a message was received to say that the drugs were floating in the sea off Kerry, having been cut loose from the mothership.

Sources have said that the plan for the traffickers was to go out to the floating shipment, which was believed to have GPS trackers on it, and recover it – bring it back to the Kerry coastline and ferry it away by road. 

It is understood that the men came back empty handed – it was then that gardaí moved in and made their arrests. 

Sources believe the men in the RHIB, became nervous or disorientated at sea and that the craft they were using had been damaged. The sea state was understood to be “moderate to rough” at the time.  

There are now fears that the drugs they missed could wash up on the west coast. 

While the accepted legal maxim in such operations is that possession is key the gardaí are focused on finding enough evidence to progress to a conspiracy charge. 

The men who gardaí believe were involved are currently detained in garda stations in Kerry under anti-gangland legislation – they can, with extensions, be held for seven days. 

Meanwhile detectives are watching the mothership which is currently located off the west coast.

Increasingly regular

Sources have said that this type of operation is becoming increasingly regular.

The vast majority of these shipments are coming in through the coasts of Cork and Kerry but they have been as far north as Donegal. There has also been operations off the Wexford and Waterford coast. 

The smuggling route between Ireland and South America is a well-trodden one for drug smugglers – the operation linked to a multi-country gang with connections across Europe. 

Operations have focused on so-called “coopering” in which a larger cargo ship or trawler bings the drugs close to shore and they are then off loaded to a smaller vessel.

A number of successful operations, including the seizure of the MV Matthew, has seen a number of men before the courts on charges. 

A garda spokesperson confirmed the operation and said that four men were arrested, aged 30, 31, 39 and 45 at Meenogahane, Co. Kerry, on Monday morning.

The offence they were arrested for is under Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 which deals with “alleged facilitating or enhancing a criminal organisation to commit a serious offence”.

“The four arrested males are currently detained under the provisions of Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007 at Garda stations in Kerry Division. Investigations are ongoing.

“For operational reasons, An Garda Síochána is not making any further comment at this time,” the spokesperson said.