THE estimated 600 kilos of cocaine found on a boat in Cork is believed to be one of the largest consignments of the drug headed for Europe this year. By some estimates, the haul has a street value of more than £200 million.
Drug runners have rarely been intercepted carrying such loads. In Britain, a consignment of a tonne of cocaine was found last year, and four years ago two linked consignments of one tonne each were discovered. However, such finds are rare and the 600 kilos at Cork rates among the largest found by European security forces.
The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, said it was "a vast haul", and showed drugs could be found even without intelligence information about shipments. "Even without knowledge that the ship is coming in, it is possible for our forces to apprehend these kinds of ships," she said.
Last night, gardai took the consignment to Garda headquarters in Dublin under heavy armed guard. It is to be analysed at the State Forensic Science Laboratory in the Phoenix Park, where it will be weighed and tested for purity. As it appears to have come directly from South America, the cocaine should have a purity level of 75 per cent or more.
Armed gardai were still at Verolme dockyard in Cork yesterday guarding the Sea Mist, the Norwegian trawler converted into a pleasure boat which came into Cork at the weekend. The search of the vessel by Customs officers, Naval personnel and the gardai has been completed.
The consignment of cocaine was found packed into the shaft of the food lift or "dumb waiter running between the kitchen deck and dining area. The space is understood to have contained about 300 bags of cocaine weighing one kilo each, as well as 120 two kilo bags, and two bales of cocaine weighing a total of 70 kilos. The unwrapped consignment weighs a total of 610 kilos.
Gardai are confident that the vessel came into Cork to avoid a storm, and had not planned to land in the State. Three members of the ship's complement were ashore when arrested, staying in private accommodation in the city. It appears that they had begun seeking accommodation after the vessel arrived in Cork, and had no previous connection to the man who offered to rent them space in an apartment.
Estimates of the street value of the consignment will vary, as those making the calculation often have different ideas as to what level of purity is acceptable to the "street" seller. Assuming that the 610 kilos would be diluted by dealers to a purity level of 20 per cent, and then sold at £80 per gramme, the consignment would have a street value of about £200 million.
Mr John Mulvihill, Labour deputy for east Cork, has called on the Government to invest more in the Naval Service and to man the lighthouses around the coastline again.
While radar can be very efficient it was not as good as the human eye around the rugged Irish coastline. The only way of knowing about shipping movements was by having people on the lighthouses, he said.