Scots drug smugglers arrested in £26m cocaine bust after high-speed Navy chase off Irish coast

Daily Record

02-07-2025

Gardaí said that the exact quantity and value are yet to be determined, but it is understood to be in excess of €31 million.
Two Scots have been arrested as part of a massive multi-agency operation after they allegedly attempted to smuggle £26million worth of cocaine into the UK via Ireland.
Gardaí from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau stopped a van in the Courtmacsherry area of County Cork on Tuesday morning and arrested two men.
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Cops then swooped in while the Irish Navy caught two other members of the gang.
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A Rigid Inflatable Boat with two males on board departed from Broadstrand, in Courtmacsherry, before Irish Naval ship, L.É. William Butler Yeats, which was on patrol in the area responded.
Two inflatable Naval Service boats with members of ships armed Maritime interdiction Team were launched and intercepted the suspects off the coast of Cork.
The pair were then taken onto the L.É. William Butler Yeats before being arrested.
The four men - all in their 30s and 40s - have now been taken into custody. According to reports, two of the suspects are Scots, while the others are from England and Germany.
Gardaí said that the exact quantity and value are yet to be determined, but it is understood to be in excess of €31 million.
The operation was supported by the Joint Task Force partners, Revenue's Customs Service, the Irish Naval Service, and local Gardaí and the Irish Air Corps. Reports suggest the suspect gang planned to bring the haul in Cork across the border and onto a ferry to Scotland for UK distribution.
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A Garda spokesperson said that as this is an ongoing operation 'no further details are available at this time'.
A spokesperson for Revenue told the Irish Mirror: 'A Joint Task Force Drugs Interdiction operation is ongoing at this time in Co. Cork.
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'As part of an intelligence-led joint operation, Revenue officers seized a large quantity of suspected controlled drugs (exact quantity and value yet to be determined), in the Courtmacsherry area of County Cork.
' The seizure was made as a result of a Joint Task Force (JTF) operation comprising members of An Garda Síochána, Revenue's Customs Service, the Irish Naval Service, and the Irish Air Corps.'
West Cork Fine Gael Senator Noel O'Donovan, who is a former member of An Garda Síochána, commended the work of local and national units of the force as well as the Naval Service and Air Corps in the major drugs bust.
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'Early indications say this operation was under surveillance for the last number of days so that is a testament to all involved for their professionalism and success in combating the importation of drugs into this country and it's further transportation,' Senator O'Donovan said.
'This is a significant detection – the biggest drug bust in the country this year. In West Cork, we are well aware how narcotics can be smuggled into this country and the European continent.
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'All involved in this operation – An Garda Síochána, Naval Service, Air Corps – have worked extremely well together and shown their capabilities in taking on evil criminal gangs and international drug smugglers.
'This capture highlights again the increased need for further Garda resources in West Cork - more Gardai patrolling our rural areas prevents and deters criminal activity.
'And indeed further investment in our Naval Service and Air Corp to continue this good work and combat criminality. I will be working with all, including Tánaiste and Defence Minister Simon Harris, to progress this,' Senator O'Donovan said.
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The incident comes after National Crime Agency officers charged a Bulgarian national with drugs offences as part of an investigation into the seizure of 185 kilos of cocaine, discovered hidden in the trailer of an HGV at Belfast Port, earlier this year.
The HGV was stopped on May 19 before it could board a ferry for Cairnryan in Scotland.
The find - which would have had a street value of around £18.5 million - is believed to be the largest class A drugs seizure in Northern Ireland in recent years.