Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins has warned that the threat of cartel-linked drug imports arriving by sea is “a serious worry for all of us out there.”
He was speaking to Gript this week following the seizure of €31 million worth of cocaine in Cork, which saw four men arrested – two on land, and two at sea after being intercepted by the Irish Navy.
It is unknown where these drugs came from geographically at this point.
However, Collins said the phenomenon of drugs arriving by sea was not new, and had been going on for decades.
“I think this is a situation that has been happening for many, many decades in this country,” he said.
“It’s not just happening today and yesterday. It’s come back maybe 10, 12, 15 years ago when we had one of the largest drugstores in the history of the state off my own coastline, the Mizen Head off of Dunlough Bay, which became a world-famous drugs haul.”
He said that Ireland’s coastline remained vulnerable to exploitation by smugglers.
“It looks to me as if drugs are coming in along the coastline,” he continued.
“I’ve often felt that, you know, we had community alerts and we had neighbourhood watches. We didn’t have coastline watches, and that’s one proposal we put forward to the Justice Minister a number of years ago, and nothing ever was working on it.”
The Cork South-West TD added that current resources for combating drug smuggling at sea were inadequate.
“We have a policing body, a drugs unit body, but they are very, very little resources, very small number of staff and they’re trying to cover the whole of Ireland,” he said.
“Ireland has a huge coastline and it can come anywhere – Galway, off of Wexford, anywhere. So I think that there needs to be a further concentration because that’s where they’re going to be bringing the drugs from as much as they can…So that’s where we’re looking at.”
He warned that the threat was real and required further attention.
“I don’t think that policing of the coastline is strong enough in relation to our drugs and they definitely, these experts out there, are definitely bringing them in,” he said.
“These are the ones we know that are being brought in. That’s a serious worry for all of us out there.”
Asked whether Ireland’s maritime defence capabilities were a potential issue in this area, Independent Ireland chairman Ken O’Flynn said it was.
“Well, of course it is,” he said.
“And as Deputy Collins said, it’s all about resources and putting in the correct resources.”
O’Flynn suggested Ireland should look abroad for models of best practice.
“What we have to do is look at the standards and best practices,” he said.
“And you’ll probably see that actually in the Costa de la Luz, the Costa del Sol, and the entire drug operation that’s there along the south of Spain, which has been dealing with these cartels or having to deal with these cartels bringing in a tremendous amount, both from Morocco, and from the South American side with cocaine and other cartel drugs.”
He added that Irish authorities should be looking at how other European nations handle similar threats.
“We know that the majority of cocaine, I think, comes in from the South America. Fentanyl comes in from Honduras, all that direction. And you’re looking at more hashish coming in from North Africa. So look, if you look at the standards and best practices in the Guardia Civil in Spain, where they’re dealing with a large coastline as well. And you see the resources that are put behind that. We should be looking at that.”
Four arrests were made last week in connection with a major €31 million cocaine haul off the coast of Cork.
As reported by RTÉ, two men were arrested in a van near Courtmacsherry, while two others were detained at sea aboard a rigid inflatable boat. The latter were intercepted by Irish Naval Service personnel deployed from the LÉ William Butler Yeats, supported by the Air Corps.
Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan praised the “excellent cooperation” between Gardaí, Revenue, and the Defence Forces during the operation.
Tánaiste and Defence Minister Simon Harris also commended the joint effort, saying the seizure was “a real example of what can be achieved” when agencies coordinate their actions.
Ireland’s naval capabilities have been the subject of political debate in recent years, amid reports of understaffing and difficulties maintaining patrol levels.
The country’s long and rugged coastline has long been considered vulnerable to exploitation by international smuggling operations, particularly those linked to organised crime networks in Latin America and North Africa.