Watch: Gardaí address the media after landmark drug trial
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Defence Forces hunted cocaine ship MV Matthew for five days
The Defence Forces operation to seize the MV Matthew came within feet of disaster – and only the skill of an Air Corps pilot saved the day. Sources say the Air Corps helicopter that flew an Army Ranger Wing team to seize the cocaine-laden freighter off the south coast came so close to the ship that its blades were within feet of large cranes on it. An officer who commanded the air mission told us the chopper would have crashed if any of its blades struck the giant yellow cranes. 'If we clip the blade we're gone,' he said. 'In the best case, we might get to ditch it onto the vessel, or ditch it into the sea. But it's not good.' Now, as eight men begin jail terms over the September 2023 plan to smuggle the drugs here on the freighter, we can reveal new details about the Defence Forces plan, called Operation Piano, in which the ARW, Naval Service and Air Corps combined to seize the ship – and the cocaine on board. We can reveal that: · The ARW team fast-roped 55 feet from the chopper onto the deck in heavy seas in seconds · One of the crew turned the ship hard left just as the ARW operators were roping down · The special forces unit seized control of the freighter in just five minutes · A Naval Service commander was planning to open fire on the ship after it refused lawful orders to stop, and · An Air Corps gunner in the chopper used a GPMG machine gun to provide cover to the ARW team as they stormed the ship. The three arms of the Defence Forces teamed up with Revenue Customs and Gardai to form a joint task force to take down the MV Matthew, a Panamanian registered freighter that had sailed across the Atlantic Ocean with 2,200 kilos of cocaine - worth €157 million. But Gardai and Customs had received international intelligence on the plot – and worked with the Defence Forces to foil it on September 26. Operation Piano started five days earlier, on Friday, September 22 when the captain of the Naval Service ship LÉ William B Yeats was summoned to a short notice meeting at its HQ at Haulbowline in Co Cork. He and his crew had just spent two weeks at sea – but were ordered back out again. He told us: 'I was briefed in broad terms about an impending counter narcotics operation that was expected to happen off the south coast of Ireland within a matter of days and I was given instructions to return the ship immediately to sea.' The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week Within 90 minutes, the 44 crew on the €71 million ship were ready and it headed out to the Irish Sea. They had received intelligence that the Matthew and a trawler called the Castlemore were planning to meet up in Irish waters. It was suspected that the Matthew was the mother ship and the plan was for it to link up with the smaller Castlemore and transfer a massive drugs consignment over to it – which would then land it on the south coast. On Saturday, the ship picked up gardai and customs officers and then headed to patrol the area of sea where investigators believed the hand over would take place. The following evening, Sunday, the LÉ WB Yeats monitored both vessels off the coast of Wexford. Officers saw the Castlemore loiter in the suspected drop off area for around an hour. The captain told us he believed that the Matthew had dropped the drugs into the sea and the Castlemore was searching for them. Then, at around 11pm, the captain received reports a trawler had run aground off the coast – and he realised it was the Castlemore. He then took part in an operation to rescue two men from the stricken trawler. A Coast Guard helicopter winched the men from the trawler and they were then brought to the WB Yeats, which transported them to Rosslare port. The Yeats spent much of Monday monitoring the grounded Castlemore as searches took place for drugs in the waters close to it. But at 1am on Tuesday, September 26, it was ordered to chase down the Matthew, which was now off the coast of Waterford. The Yeats caught up with the Matthew at 5am – and immediately started to interrogate the crew over the radio. The Matthew's captain, Iranian Soheil Jelveh, 51, had been airlifted the day before in a medical emergency, and the Yeats' captain had to deal with his second in command. The officer ordered the crew member to head to Cork – but the Matthew claimed it was having engine problems and needed 48 hours for repairs. After several hours, the second in command eventually agreed to the Irish demands and set sail for Cork. 'It looked like things were going our way,' the Irish captain said. But an hour later, it became clear that the MV Matthew was bluffing – and it had instead set a course for Sierra Leone in west Africa. The Irish officer said: 'It was apparent to me then that I was in hot pursuit of that ship. I was authorised to use force, if necessary, to get that vessel to comply with my instruction. Ultimately, I arrived at the decision that force needed to be used.' It was now around midday on Tuesday and the officer ordered his crew to fire warning shots in the air from Steyr 5.56mm assault rifles. The crew ignored those shots, so the captain ordered his personnel to fire more shots – but this time from the heavier calibre 7.62mm machinegun. The captain told us the MV Matthew crew begged for their lives – but still ignored his commands to head to Cork. He said: 'Some of the messages came back were words like 'don't, don't shoot. There's people here who are innocent. We have families at home, wives, children. We don't want to die. And please deescalate.' 'My response was always that they were responsible for the outcome of this action, that they had within their power to deescalate. I would have immediately backed off had I seen the results that we needed to. I imagine it got quite frantic on board. And just in the interactions between myself and the guy at the end of the radio, he was doing everything in his power to put me off the course of action that I was on.' But the Irish captain knew he had to be firm - and that he had the law on his side. He had three other weapons on board: a 12.7mm heavy machine gun, a 20mm cannon and a 76mm main gun. He said: 'I have the options of using the heavy machine gun and 20 millimetre and 76 millimetre weapons. They were the options that were available to me.' He adds he was planning on firing the warning shots gradually closer to the Matthew – and was ready to actually hit the vessel with what is called disabling fire, that would mean targeting the engine. He said: 'You begin stepping your shots closer to the vessel, and if you're into the realm of disabling shots, then you are trying your best to hit critical machinery that would disable the vessel and stop the vessel in its tracks, obviously mitigating against personal injury.' But the Irish captain then got an order to cease the warning shots as the Air Corps were flying an Army Ranger Wing unit to the Matthew – to assault it from the skies. The special forces unit was flown to the MV Matthew on board an Air Corps AW139 helicopter. The senior flyer who commanded the mission said the Air Corps provided a two planes – a PC-12 and a Casa – for overwatch, while approximately nine ARW operators were loaded into the AW139 helicopter and flown to Waterford airport. At 12.40pm, then Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheal Martin gave approval for the mission and the helicopter carrying the assault team lifted off at 1pm. The officer said: 'We got radar contact around 25 miles off the South West coast. We were updated then that warning shots were being fired by our naval colleagues who were trying to get (The MV Matthew) to stop. We have planned all along there was going to be a compliant boarding so we weren't anticipating the offensive nature.' But they then realised the Matthew was not following orders – and got ready to deliver the ARW team in a non-compliant landing. That meant positioning the helicopter so an ARW sniper and an Air Corps gunner using a GMPG machinegun were able to provide cover as the special forces team fast roped onto the ship from 55 feet. The officer said: 'We came in low. The swell was around four metres, the wind was around 20 knots and (MV Matthew) was going around 10-15 knots. We've got 35-40 knots coming across the deck as we're getting ready to put ropes on. The swell was pitching and rolling the vessel, which made it more challenging. 'The deck was very challenging. There were antennae, we'd high cranes left and right. It made it probably the highest and fast rope we've ever done onto a vessel. 'And at times we've just barely a small bit of rope on. So it's an extremely challenging and dangerous insertion.' He said the team would normally use a winch to deploy personnel onto a ship – but the ARW unit needed to get on quickly. And that meant using fast ropes which - combined with the closeness of the cranes and antennae as well as the weather – made the insertion extremely risky. And it became even more dangerous when a crew member on the Matthew turned the Matthew towards the helicopter while the fast rope was actually happening. The Air Corps officer said: 'Fast roping on land is extremely dangerous. But going out to ship in quite challenging maritime conditions with 35/40 knots across the deck, she's rolling and pitching with these two big masts that are very, very close and then they decide to turn into us. 'So we're constantly moving, trying to maintain our position on the deck. Once the guy goes on to the rope it's extremely dangerous, if he comes off at 50/55 feet, it's something not even worth thinking about.' He confirmed the AW139's blades were only a matter of feet from the cranes when the ARW team was fast roping onto the MV Matthew. Only the skill of the pilot prevented a catastrophe. The officer said: 'If we clip the blade we're gone. In the best case, we might get to ditch it onto the vessel, or ditch it into the sea. But it's not good.' The ARW team took a matter of seconds to rope onto the ship, a senior special forces commander told us. He revealed they had control of the ship within five minutes. The first operators to land on the ship raced to the bridge - the most important area of the vessel. He said: 'The priority will be to control the vessel. That means it can't be steered in a different direction. It can't be rammed into another vessel, or it can't be scuttled. 'We had full control within about five minutes of the first personnel being on the deck. ' He said he knew once the soldiers landed safely it was all over for the ship's crew. He said: 'We had full confidence that once we got the guys on to the deck, there wasn't going to be anything on the ship that they couldn't deal with. We've got really well trained people. Once we managed to get them onto the deck, it would be over.' Once the bridge was under the ARW control, operators realised some of the crew were trying to burn the cocaine in a lifeboat. The team ran over and used fire extinguishers to put out the blaze – and save the cocaine as evidence. And one of the ARW soldiers then took control of the massive freighter – and sailed it to Cork harbour, where gardai were waiting to board it. The senior ARW officer said: 'We have a lot of personnel who are dedicated to working in the maritime environment and they've got really specialist qualifications in that area. We had personnel on board that day who were able to take the ship under control and bring it into Cork.'
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Moment MV Matthew crew ordered to burn drugs as Irish warship in ‘hot pursuit' as cops probe Iran & Kinahan cartel links
THE Kinahan cartel is among several international crime organisations being probed over the failed attempt to smuggle €157million of cocaine to Europe on board MV Matthew. The drugs operation, which originated in Advertisement 6 The Army Ranger Wing boarding the MV Matthew as part of Ireland's largest-ever drugs haul Credit: Copyright remains with handout provider 6 The partially-burned cocaine stash inside a lifeboat on the MV Matthew Credit: Copyright remains with handout provider 6 Captain Darragh Kirwan head of Naval Service Operations and Garda Assistant Comissioner Angela Willis Credit: � 2025 PA Media, All Rights Reserved Eight men were jailed on Friday for between 13.5 and 20 years for their part in trying to smuggle the 2.2tonnes — the largest The haul was seized following a joint The These criminals are believed to have links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, which was led by General Hossein Salami, until he was killed by an Israeli airstrike during last month's Advertisement READ MORE IN IRISH NEWS Two of those jailed on Friday were Iranians that Gardai believe have links to Hezbollah, led by Hassan Nasrallah before his assassination in Today, the Gardai released a The man who ran the operation from Speaking today from the Naval Base in Haulbowline, Co Advertisement Most read in Irish News Asst Comm Willis said Gardai have also identified Irish-based She said: 'The next phase of the operation is to look at the peripheral involvement of other people here in Ireland and abroad, and that will also include looking at asset recovery of those people.' RESILIENT CARTELS She indicated the Interpol's Dave Cantor said: 'The cartels are resilient and looking for new ways to get their drugs to market. I think it's changing as the threat of synthetic drugs is on the rise globally.' Advertisement He said deadly drugs like Pink Cocaine — a cocktail of synthetic drugs which has led to many deaths in the He stressed: 'There's a very strong commitment to fight organised crime.' Revenue Commissioner Ruth Kennedy said they have a potential buyer for MV Matthew, which is berthed across from the town of Passage. To watch the full story of the MV Matthew click . Advertisement 6 Daniel Kinahan 6 Hezbollah's chief Hassan Nasrallah Credit: AFP 6 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-Chief Major General Hossein Salami Credit: Reuters
Irish Examiner
8 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Interpol: Kinahans will be 'taken down' as Irish organised crime now on top globally
Irish cartels are now at the top echelons of organised crime internationally, an Interpol chief has said. But David Caunter, Interpol director of organised and emerging crime, is optimistic that all leaders of the Kinahan cartel, Ireland's largest and most deadly crime group, will be 'taken down' by law enforcement. The Kinahan cartel is one of multiple transnational crime groups linked to the foiled MV Matthew drug trafficking operation, during which a €190m bulk cargo vessel was intercepted by Irish authorities at gunpoint while attempting to smuggle some 2.2 tonnes of cocaine with a street value of some €157m through Irish waters. Eight men were sentenced to a combined 129 years in prison for their role in the drug trafficking operation in the Special Criminal Court yesterday. Irish organised crime groups are now at the top of organised crime internationally, Mr Cantour said. And organised crime groups are continuing to expand globally, forging new links and new routes internationally, he said. Mexico's Sinaloa cartel remains powerful, despite internal war within the cartel and major government crackdowns on its operations, with the organised crime group continuing to expand internationally, with tentacles now reaching to and deepening within Australia and New Zealand, he said. We know organised crime groups are continuing to expand globally. They're looking to expand partnerships into parts of the world where they had no developed partnerships before. 'That global connection is quite strong. The local traffickers may not understand that they are just a piece of this transglobal organised crime picture.' Links are now particularly strong between gangs in the Middle East and South America, he said. And the MV Matthew case shows these 'strong linkages.' The operation was directed from Dubai with Iranian and Hezbollah links, while the cocaine was bought from a Latin American cartel and it was shipped from Venezuela in South America. West Africa is also now becoming more important as a transit route in the cocaine trade, with new groups mushrooming in the region in response to the cocaine trade's growth there. 'Organised crime groups are beginning to pivot and shift a little bit and moving their products instead of directly into Europe looking for other countries as an intermediary to then conceal that routing back into Europe,' Mr Cantour said. 'These cartels are very resilient. They're looking for new ways to get their drugs to market. 'We're seeing Balkan, Lebanese, and other criminal organisations [involvement],' he said. Irish groups operating domestically have global reach Ireland also has strong organised crime groups operating domestically but which have major global reach, he said. The threat of synthetic drugs is now rising in Ireland and globally, he said. 'We're seeing synthetic drug markets popping up, especially here in Europe, which is an alarming trend just based on the high potential for death, overdose deaths like we've seen in North America.' Fentanyl, nitazines, and other powerful synthetics remain a deadly threat, he said. But an increase in poly drug cocktails, like pink cocaine - a mixture of various different synthetic drugs - that are gaining popularity, are also an increasing concern for Interpol. Pink cocaine production is mostly centred in Asia and the Americas currently, he said. Another new drug of concern is 'happy water', another synthetic drug mix, which includes MDMA, methamphetamine, diazepam, and ketamine. It is sold in powder form and dissolved in liquid, creating a psychoactive liquid which has been growing in use in Southeast Asia. 'When organisations are poisoning the streets with those types of substances, there's a high potential for overdose deaths, for illnesses,' Mr Cantour said. 'Unlike the traditional plant-based drugs [heroin, cocaine], synthetic drug production is not limited geographically. 'It can really happen anywhere in the world, and that's what makes it quite alarming. You can move your production zone right next to your transportation networks.' Fentanyl has not yet gripped Europe the way it has the US, but the even more powerful synthetic opioids nitazines have been taking an increasing hold in Europe and are linked to overdoses and death already in Ireland. Although the Sinaloa cartel manufactures fentanyl and sends it over the border to addicts in the US, Europe does not have the same prescription drug abuse problem as the US so fentanyl has not become as large a phenomenon here, he said. But it remains 'something to watch.' Synthetic drugs replacing heroin Dave Caunter, Director of organized and emerging crime Interpol, Captain Darragh Kirwan, Head of Neval services Operations Command, Angela Willis, Assistant Commissioner organized and serious crime, Ruth Kennedy, Revenue and Sjoerd Top, Executive Director Maritime Analysis and Operation Centre – Narcotics (MAOC-N) at a joint media briefing on the largest cocaine seizure in Irish history from the MV Matthew by the Joint Task Force comprising members of the Revenue Customs Service, Naval Service and An Garda Síochána at the Naval Base, Haulbowline, Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan Heroin use has almost completely disappeared in the US with more powerful – and profitable - synthetics taking its place. Heroin supply lessoned with the ban on poppy cultivation in Afghanistan but even more powerful synthetics are already taking its place, he said. 'You'll have various chemicals being shipped from Asia to other parts of the world, and we're seeing manufacturing pop up in all regions of the world. ' I'm worried about the synthetic drugs just because of the high potency, the high profitability. It makes it quite lucrative. 'And the harm that those types of drugs can cause, which we've seen in North America with the 120,000 overdose deaths. The fear is if that comes and takes hold here for the European market, it could be quite troubling. 'And what I have seen with the global drugs business is no country is immune." Mr Cantour was speaking to the Irish Examiner at Haulbowline naval base on Saturday after a joint taskforce presentation on the historic MV Matthew drug seizure between gardaí, the navy, and Revenue. Representatives from Interpol and the Maritime Analysis and Operation Centre – Narcotics (MAOC (N), which targets maritime drug smuggling, were also present as both bodies were also centrally involved in the MV Matthew operation. Read More MV Matthew crew were no mere cogs — they played a vital role in cocaine trafficking venture
