€157m cocaine seizure the latest in long line of drug interceptions

The seizure by a Joint Task Force of Gardaí, Customs and the Irish Defence Forces of 2.2tonnes of cocaine after a dramatic boarding of the MV Matthew off the coast of Waterford on Tuesday has been described as the "largest seizure in the history of the State".

A conservative estimate of the street value of this week’s haul is put at €157m, a sizable dent in the coffers of the South American drug cartels who have targeted Europe as their most lucrative market for the narcotic.

While the value of the haul from the MV Matthew is estimated to be €157m – a product of the street value of €70k per kg multiplied by the weight – this is a conservative estimate as the purity of the product must be ascertained. Depending on the purity, the narcotic could be then mixed with other products such as flour to boost its value further.

It’s described as the largest such seizure but it’s also only the latest in a long line of successful interceptions by Irish authorities of large drug consignments.

Previous interceptions

There have been several seizures of large quantities of cannabis resin over the years but the earliest recorded significant haul of cocaine was in September 1996 when 599kg of cocaine was recovered from the Sea Mist in Cobh.

Two years later in September 1998 320 kilograms of cocaine was seized on board the Gemeous catamaran in Kinsale.

In July 2007, 1,550 kg of cocaine was found wrapped in bales in Dunlough Bay, close to Mizen Head.

In November 2008, 1,875 kilograms of cocaine was recovered from the Dances with Waves yacht. It had been brought under naval escort to Castletownbere.

In September 2014, a ship called the Makayabella was apprehended off the coast of west Cork. It was discovered to be carrying over a tonne of cocaine when it searched in Haulbowline.

In July of this year, a number of packages containing what is believed to be cocaine were washed ashore on the north Donegal coastline.