Brit, 22, rushed to hospital after ‘falling off boat in Magaluf & getting caught in propeller after drinking with pals'
The 22-year-old is said to have been drinking with pals on the rented boat before tumbling and cutting himself and coming close to drowning according to one local report.
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The drama happened just after 5pm local time today opposite upmarket Nikki Beach in Magaluf
Credit: Getty
Some of the cuts he suffered have been described as deep gashes.
He was admitted to Son Espases Hospital in the Majorcan capital Palma this evening.
His exact condition is not known but his condition when he left the scene was described as "serious."
The drama happened just after 5pm local time today opposite upmarket Nikki Beach in Magaluf.
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The tourist and his pals, who were also described in local reports as "inebriated", had rented the boat hours earlier and spent most of the day at sea.
Lifeguards on the beach were the first to assist the injured man before Civil Guard officers, Civil Protection workers and paramedics reached the scene.
He was stabilised before being evacuated to hospital in one of the two ambulances sent to the scene.
Dozens of worried sunbathers watched on as he was taken away in an ambulance as he was taken away.
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No-one could be reached at Son Espases this afternoon for comment.
There has not yet been an official comment from the Civil Guard in Majorca, which has launched an investigation into the incident.
Last weekend mum-of-four Debra Wright died after the jet ski she was riding pillion on was hit by a boat being piloted by a friend off Manilva west of Estepona on the Costa del Sol.
Her Greater Manchester-based husband Chris, 52, described her as an 'amazing woman' in a tribute. He also told how he cradled his dying wife in his arms.
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The unnamed friend was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and an alcohol-related offence after failing a breath test.
He was released without charge pending an ongoing criminal probe after appearing in court in Estepona last Sunday a day after the tragedy.
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Overhead of Playa de Magaluf beach, Magaluf, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
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Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Ireland's cocaine conundrum: 'We only know the ones we get — there could be stuff landing on beaches every night'
Amid all the recognition last week of a job well done — first with the 440kg cocaine haul in Cork and then the sentencing in the MV Matthew case — is the knowledge that an unending tidal wave of cocaine is coming across the Atlantic. 'The interception on Tuesday of the near-half tonne in Courtmacsherry was a great result for the JTF [Joint Task Force],' a security source said, 'and to have that topped-off with the sentencing on Friday of the MV Matthew, again a JTF operation, was icing on the cake'. The source added: 'The one Tuesday was a lot of coordination and logistics among the gardaí, on the surveillance and operational sides of the house, and also Customs and the Defence Forces — the Naval Service and the Air Corps.' The dramatic military intervention of the Army Rangers, fast-roping from a helicopter onto the deck of the MV Matthew in September 2023, is etched in people's memories. That too was a JTF operation [Gardaí, Revenue and Defence Forces] and the LE William Butler Yeats was involved in both. The sprawling international investigation into the MV Matthew — as revealed at the time in the Irish Examiner — identified Iranian and Hezbollah fixers and traffickers and the power of the Dubai-based Kinahan cartel. As Detective Superintendent Keith Halley of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB) said after the sentencing, these transnational organised crime networks have 'immense capabilities, unlimited resources and global reach'. Lessons from MV Matthew With the MV Matthew the traffickers had even gone to the expense and work of buying and registering their own bulk cargo vessel and directly hiring and running crews to operate it. Sources said that particular smuggling operation was 'overly complicated' and that the cartels have learned from it. More recently, the cartels are concentrating on corrupting/intimidating crews working on legitimate commercial vessels to do the work. Security sources were impressed with the operation at Broad Strand Beach last Tuesday. 'This gang ran a very smooth operation,' one source said. 'The guys in the rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) were dressed all in black, come in slow, in the dead of night, on a low throttle. 'There's a van waiting, the drugs are loaded and the van is gone. They made it look very simple.' Unlucky for this gang, gardaí had intelligence, assisted by the maritime tracking expertise of the Maritime Analysis and Operation Centre — Narcotics (MAOC-N), the EU drug interdiction agency. The drugs seized during Tuesday's operation in Courtmacsherry. Picture: Gardaí And watching the gang's 'maritime team' on their fast boat as they approached Broad Strand beach, not far from the coastal town of Courtmacsherry, and the 'ground team' waiting in the van, was the secretive Garda National Surveillance Unit. The Defence Forces had the LE William Butler Yeats deployed at sea and the Air Corps was requested, with the CASA 284 taking off from Baldonnell at 3.50am. Two RHIBs on the Butler Yeats engaged in a high speed chase of the gang's RHIB as it sped away along the coast, towards Waterford. But they were no match for the armed NS Maritime Interdiction Team and were caught. Meanwhile, the two-man landing team were brought to an abrupt halt by the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) and DOCB on the road to Courtmacsherry. But experienced officers know that for every good catch they have, multiples are getting through. All you need is a beach 'The reality is we only know the ones we get,' a security source said. 'And given how simple this gang made it look, there could be stuff landing on beaches every night. 'The fact is you don't need a pier anymore. There used to be talk of all the remote piers across the country and how can you watch them. Now, all the gangs need is a beach.' There are an estimated 25 ports in the Republic. According to the Ireland Walking Guide, there are 300 beaches dotted along the coast. The threat posed by gangs using fast boats is affecting much of Europe. Last February, MAOC-N organised an operational workshop because of the 'growing use' of fast boats in maritime cocaine smuggling. It noted the 'expanding operational range' of these boats, adding they were 'increasingly difficult to track and intercept'. As mentioned, South American cartels are using legitimate commercial vessels to smuggle their consignments to Ireland. When the vessels near whatever Irish port they are scheduled to go to, the maritime team takes off and speeds towards it. 'The vessel doesn't even need to stop,' a source said. 'The RHIB comes up behind the vessel, the consignment is lowered down by the crew and the ship continues to port where it offloads its legitimate cargo.' That happened in the Courtmacsherry haul, with the bulk carrier, coming from Argentina, scheduled to dock at Ringaskiddy Port in Cork. Cell structures in drug trafficking Cell structures are not necessarily new in trafficking and the MV Matthew showed that — with bosses in Dubai calling the shots over encrypted phones. The structure often breaks down as follows: A 'control team' orchestrating everything by encrypted phones, in contact with the captain or crew of a mother ship, and tracking its movements, and the various teams at the receiving end; A 'boat team' on the vessel, which exits a South American port, either with the drugs already on board or collected en route and rendezvous with a team at the receiving country; A 'maritime team' is based on a departure point on the coast of the country and when told by the control team, leaves on a RHIB to a designated area at sea and collects the drugs and brings them to a landing point — separate to their departure point. This team then travels either back to their original staring point or another one and leaves; A 'ground team' collects the drugs from the maritime team and loads into a waiting van and typically in Ireland's case drives by motorway to the North and gets a ferry to Scotland, unless some or all the haul is for Ireland. In some cases, the control team might have a second ground team ready, just in case. In addition, authorities are aware of specialist 'all Ireland' gangs, typically based along the border, that provide the ground team service. 'This is a sophisticated system,' a security source said. 'It doesn't always work, as we know, but they don't need it to work all the time and they factor in that shipments will be lost, but that have billions to throw at this.' Ireland bombarded by cocaine shipments At we can see at the map, Ireland is being bombarded by huge cocaine shipments coming across the Atlantic. Estimates based on Garda and Revenue figures indicate that around 930kgs of cocaine has been seized so far this year, compared to about 760kgs of cocaine in 2024. 2023 was a record year, with approximately 3.45 tonnes of cocaine seized. Even excluding the MV Matthew's 2.25 tonnes, an additional 1.2 tonnes was seized during the rest of the year. There has been a massive rise in seizures of just five or 10 years ago. Between 2016 and 2021 the annual total seized ranged from a low of 52kgs in 2017 to a high of 138kgs in 2020. Trying to estimate just how much gets in, without being seized, is very difficult. 'You are never certain how much we are seizing and how much is getting in, but the 10-15% estimate is probably true,' said one security source. The consignments of cocaine bound for Europe that are being seized indicates the sheer scale of cocaine smuggling. MAOC-N made two record hauls of cocaine last year — each of them a colossal 10.5 tonnes. Both consignments were seized by the French Navy, one in the Caribbean and the other Gulf of Guinea, off west Africa, a major supply route to Europe. Drugs hauls around Ireland since April 2023. ie070725 In all, MAOC-N and partner countries seized a total of around 70 tonnes of cocaine in 2024. So far this year, the figure stands at 34.5 tonnes, including one nine-tonne haul, again by the French Navy in the Caribbean, and a 6.4-tonne seizure by the French in the Gulf of Guinea. The EU Drugs Agency (EUDA) said in June that record quantities of cocaine have been seized in Europe in 2023, for the seventh year in a row — 419 tonnes, compared to 323 tonnes in 2022. And just this month the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported record high cocaine production levels, nearly doubling since 2020. 'Europe is being bombarded with cocaine and has been since the start of 2023 and Ireland is on the west coast of Europe,' a security source said. The EUDA and Europol, the EU police agency, have been warning in recent years that because of increased security at the two biggest ports for cocaine importation in Europe — Antwerp and Rotterdam — cartels are redirecting part of the trade to smaller ports in Europe, such as ones in France, Sweden and Denmark. Experts here believe Ireland is definitely part of that trend: 'Absolutely, 100% yes,' said a source. 'Every port in Europe is vulnerable. Cartels look for weaknesses wherever they can find them.' Ireland a weak spot in Europe Compounding this factor is the perceived poor levels of maritime security in Ireland. 'Cartels see and hear that Ireland is a point of least resistance, with the well-publicised lack of naval assets and air cover and the crisis in staffing,' a source said. The Naval Service struggles to get more than one long range patrol ship out at any one time, while a dire shortage of controllers at Baldonnell is restricting and delaying Air Corps patrols and their ability to respond to requests at speed. One security source said the drug operations don't always need a physical aircraft in the sky — namely the Air Corps CASA C295 — and that drones would do the job. 'These gangs are so clever that a RHIB might leave point A and, you think, it's to deliver to point B, say a beach, but the RHIB collects the drugs from the vessel and drops the load at point C, somewhere else, to be picked up by another vessel that you don't know about. If you don't have air surveillance we don't know this.' Some other sources differ to a degree, saying the CASA may actually be cheaper than similar military-grade drones with a similar sensor suite. There can also be issues with endurance of drones and their sensor payload. Another source with knowledge of the Air Corps said that the Defence Forces was 'years behind' where they should be in MALE (medium altitude long endurance) drone space. 'They are like little small planes and have endurance for nine to 12 hours and can give persistence in an operating area in surveillance, say over a mothership," the source said. You could then bring a CASA in, which could react quicker and have better sensors, at least in radar. The source said that the central problem limiting the Air Corps — which has received extensive publicity recently — is the lack of controllers, operating, thought to be at less than 50% capacity. 'Without controllers you can't dispatch a CASA, so if there is a call from the gardaí or Customs for air cover outside nine-to-five Monday to Friday, there is going to be a delay as you have to call in a controller on a rest day and scramble a crew. 'Now they did it on Tuesday (CASA departed at 3.50am, although not clear when request came in) but, generally, there's a significant issue there.' This source blamed 'inaction and mostly lack of ambition' at both DFHQ and Department of Defence level in pushing the need to invest in a military-grade maritime drone. A second source agreed: 'We need drones now, but there seems to be very little movement.' The programme for government makes the following commitment: 'Fund innovative law enforcement technologies including unmanned drones to patrol our coast and ports and detect the trafficking of illegal drugs. 'This will supplement the work of our air and naval services in this sphere.' A Maritime Interdiction Team (MIT) receiving a briefing at sea. Picture: Gardaí Asked about steps to implement this pledge, the Department of Justice did not say if was not working on this area and said queries around the operational requirements of gardaí were a matter for Garda HQ. It said the procurement and use of drones by the Defence Forces in an Aid to the Civil Power [ATCP] capacity, including drug interdiction at sea, was a matter Department of Defence and Defence Forces. In a statement, the Department of Defence said: 'The Air Corps currently does not operate unmanned aerial drones for the patrolling of Irish territorial airspace or waters. 'However it is proposed that this capability will be developed in future in line with a specific recommendation in this regard made by the Commission on the Defence Forces. 'The timeframe for this will be outlined in the updated Detailed Implementation Plan for the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, which is due to be published shortly." It said the two C295 maritime aircraft, specially equipped with state-of-the-art surveillance and communication equipment, were delivered to the Air Corps in 2023. "These new aircraft provide a significantly enhanced maritime surveillance capability and, like all Defence Forces capabilities, can be deployed in an ATCP role in support of An Garda Síochána and in support of the Joint Task Force on Drug Interdiction," it said. The 2.25 tonnes of cocaine that was seized from the MV Matthew, a Panamanian-registered bulk carrier, had an estimated value of more than €157. The cargo ship was boarded in a dramatic operation by the Army Rangers, a specialist wing of the Irish Defence Forces, in September 2023. File picture: Larry Cummins It said that, at present, the Naval Service operate a selection of "non-military specification drones" for tasks such as search and rescue, intelligence gathering and fishery protection. Sources have said that the necessary military-grade drones — one with the necessary technology, endurance, operational and regulatory capabilities — do not come cheap and that countries typically buy them in pairs. US prices would suggest two would cost around €100m. (The next CASA has a price-tag of €59m). European manufacturers, such as Airbus, also manufacture similar grade drones. 'It all depends on what exactly you want to do and what you want to spend,' one source said. 'But a drone would not be just for counter-drug operations, it could also be used for fisheries and monitoring offshore and coastal critical infrastructure.' If you are serious about security, you need to spend the money. If you don't, you pay the price. Other sources point out that cartels are constantly improvising and investing in research and engineering — including in semi-submersibles. In December 2019, Spanish authorities intercepted the first ever transatlantic semi-submersible or 'narcosub' in Europe. In March 2021, the first ever semi-submersible being constructed in Europe was uncovered in Spain. In March this year, the Portugese navy intercepted a narcosub in the Azores after travelling from Brazil with a colossal 6.5 tonnes of cocaine — and five crew — on board. Last week Colombian Navy seized a narco-sub with a satellite antenna on the bow, possibly allowing it to be operated remotely by cartels without the need for a crew. Some sources here suspect cartels will also begin using drones to transport cocaine consignments. 'The west African cocaine route is a major supplier to Europe, so use of drones across the Mediterranean is very possible," said a security source. "You could also start seeing the likes of a cargo ship out in the Atlantic launching a drone — without the need for RHIBs." Another source said: 'Cartels are spending billions on technology. They have more cocaine than they know what to do with and people in Ireland and across Europe are desperate to shove it up their noses and not think about how it got there. 'Meanwhile, our navy and air corps is depleted and the government just makes statements and promises. This problem is getting bigger and bigger and we need action — now.'
The Irish Sun
6 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
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6 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
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