Background: the south west is a favourite for criminal gangs

Over the past two decades, the south west coast of Ireland has become a favoured transhipment point for criminal gangs seeking to smuggle drugs from South America and North Africa into Europe.

These include some of the biggest ever drugs seizures in Ireland.

1991 The Karma: Customs officers found 28 bales of cannabis resin worth €9 million when they searched a yacht, called The Karma of the East, at Courtmacsherry on 31st July. Cork antiques dealer Christopher "Golly" O'Connell was later jailed for eight years.

1993 The Brime: Gardaí and Naval Service personnel came together on July 10th to lure the Brime to a location Loop Head in Clare where they boarded the yacht and found €25 million worth of cannabis. The principal figure behind the shipment was Briton David Huck. He eluded gardaí but four crew members, Dubliner Gerry Fitzgerald, Englishman Wayne Bland, Dutch man Egbertus Marius Van Onzen and Belgian Frank Loopmans were sentenced to ten years each in jail.

1996 The Sea Mist: Converted trawler, The Sea Mist, puts into Cork Harbour on September 29th after failing to rendezvous with a yacht 100 miles west of Brest. Local suspicions were aroused when the boat moored at East Ferry and customs, gardaí and Naval Service are alerted. A customs rummaging team under Customs Enforcement Officer Paddy O'Sullivan searched the trawler and found 599kg of cocaine worth €125 million on board. Five crew went to trial but only skipper Gordon Richards was convicted and jailed for 17 years.

1998 The Gemeos: Customs officers and gardaí recover 325kg of cocaine worth €61 million worth when they searched catamaran, The Gemeos on September 4th after she put into Kinsale Harbour following a transatlantic voyage.

Skipper John O'Toole, a native of Enniskerry, Co Wicklow was jailed for 20 years and crewman Michael Tune, from England, was sentenced to 14 years in jail for his part in the attempt to smuggle cocaine into Ireland.

1999 The Posidonia: Converted trawler, The Posidonia was boarded on November 19th by the Naval Service personnel from the LE Ciara accompanied by Customs Officers. They found €18 million worth of cannabis resin on board. The consignment was picked up off Morocco and due to be offloaded to a boat off the Irish coast for shipment ashore. Skipper Richard Preece was jailed for nine years and two other crew, fellow Englishmen, Barry Court and Matthew Simkins were both jailed for seven years.

2007 The Lucky Day: The catamaran transferred 1.5 tonnes of cocaine worth €440 million onto a RIB 30 miles off Mizen Head on July 2nd. However, he RIB stalled when someone put diesel in one of its petrol engines and it ended up capsizing in Dunlough Bay. Two Englishmen, Martin Wanden and Perry Wharried were both given 30 year sentences and a third, Joe Daly was given 25 years after an eight week trial. A fourth man, Gerard Hagan was given a ten year sentence after pleading guilty to his involvement in the operation. Another member of the gang, Joe Daly's brother Michael, a former drugs squad detective in the London Metropolitan Police, was sentenced to 22 years in jail for his part in the operation. His sentence was made consecutive to an 8 year sentence he was serving for other offences.

Yet another member of the gang, a former fireman Alan Wells, was sentenced to 14 years in jail while another man, John Edney who was also charged with conspiracy to import cocaine was acquitted.

2008 Dances with Waves: The yacht, Dances with Waves, was apprehended by the Naval Service in a Joint Task Force Operation with Customs and the Gardai some 150 miles off the Mizen Head on November 5th and found to be carrying 1.5 tonnes of cocaine again destined for the UK. Three men found on the board the yacht, Britons Philip Doo (52), Christopher Wiggins (43), and David Mufford (45), each pleaded guilty to possessing 1,504kg of cocaine for sale or supply. They were jailed for ten years in May 2009.

The mastermind behind the operation, Englishman John Alan Brooks (61), was later jailed for 28 years by a court in the UK — a sentence which was welcomed by Assistant Commissioner Tony Quilter who said it highlighted the value of international multi-agency co-operation.