THE search of the Sea Mist, on which Customs officials found 610 kg of cocaine earlier this week, finished yesterday evening.
The find represents the most valuable consignment of drugs ever seized by the authorities in this State, and is believed to be one of the largest amounts of cocaine intercepted en route to Europe from South America.
The cruiser will be held in Cork and may eventually be auctioned by the Revenue Commissioners.
Customs sources yesterday denied reports they missed the huge haul of cocaine when they first boarded the 36 year old vessel near Cobh last Saturday.
They requested that two armed gardai to go on board with them, because of the possibility of weapons and on Sunday morning they began their search of the 60 ft timber built boat.
All the plastic and paper wrapped packages of drugs were discovered 4 1/2 hours later in the shaft of a boarded up dumbwaiter between the galley and the salon.
"The job of Customs officers is to search, which we did. There was no question of our missing anything. The search was methodical and thorough as it must be in these circumstances," an official said.
The Sea Mist, built in Sweden, was once a luxury cruiser built to a trawler design. It had sleeping accommodation for up to 14 people, which included a master bedroom and other bedrooms with adjoining bathrooms.
A Customs surveyor in Cork, Mr Brendan Mulcahy, confirmed that the search of the vessel was complete and praised the help Customs had received from the public.
"The Customs policy of building contacts with concerned members of the public is an excellent one and offers the best hope of allowing the service to carry out the primary responsibility we have been given in relation to the importation of illegal drugs," he said.