Defence Forces detail role of members in record drug seizure off Cork coast in new review 

The daring operation off the Cork coast which saw members of the Army Rangers Wing rappel to the deck of a vessel which was found to contain a record haul of cocaine was among the operations highlighted by Óglaigh na hÉirean/the Defence Forces in its annual review of the year. 

The actions carried out by army, navy and air corps assets during Operation Piano in September were part of a multi-agency Counter Narcotics Joint Task Force (JTF) involving Revenue and An Garda Síochána along with the Defence Forces.

In its annual review, the Defence Forces detail the events that happened describing how army, navy and air Corps assets jointly engaged two vessels of interest (VOI) which it said were attempting to import large quantities of illegal drugs through Irish waters.

'Dynamic security situation'

It states that on September 24 "a dynamic security situation developed off the South East Coast of Ireland when the ship, Castlemore, ran aground off the Wexford coast in inclement weather."

“Two suspects were rescued from the trawler in poor weather and escorted to the LE William Butler Yeats where Garda personnel were present to take them into custody.

“On Monday 25 SEPT [September] the JTF contacted DFHQ Operations Branch and requested assistance from air corps (AC) and army ranger wing (ARW) assets to conduct surveillance operations and possible fast-rope insertion to board an ARW Task Unit.

“Intelligence received indicated that a second ship, the cargo ship MV Matthew be designated the primary Vessel of Interest (VOI) for the JTF.

“This VOI was a ‘bulk carrier’ with 20 crew on-board, sailing under the flag of Panama Customs, as the lead agency in the JTF, formally requested DF assistance to board the MV Matthew.

 “The JTF had intelligence that this larger Vessel of Interest (VOI) may contain greater quantities of illegal drugs.

“A plan was developed to deploy Army Ranger Wing members on the VOI utilising AW139 Rotary wing aircraft with CASA and PC12 top cover."

It said that LE WB Yeats tracked the vessel on September 26 before the "ARW deployed by Fast Rope Helicopter Insertion and gained control of the vessel, preventing the destruction of any potential contraband or evidence on-board.” 

It added that "upon reaching calmer waters, both AGS and Customs Legal Enforcement Detachments (LEDET) boarded the VOI and a handover was conducted with the ARW Team Leader, handing over to the Civil Authorities."

Other activities by Defence Forces

According to the Óglaigh na hÉireann review, among other activities, the naval service conducted 104 fisheries boardings, resulting in five detentions. 

The Naval Service Dive Section was deployed on 14 occasions for operations including JTF operations, quay wall clearance operations, explosive ordnance disposal operations, search and rescue and recovery of missing persons as well as routine mechanical engineering work on naval vessels.

The army was also involved in 101 aid to civil power (ATCP) operations in support of An Garda Síochána involving Explosive and Ordnance Disposal (Bomb squad) call-outs, prisoner escorts, explosive escorts, cash escorts, specialist search operations and VIP visits including the State Visit of US President, Joe Biden, in April.

Army members were also deployed in the county to provide flood relief support to the civil authorities following Storm Babet in October. 

The air corps was involved in more than 430 operations during 2023 and these included 344 emergency medical missions, supporting the National Ambulance Service, 50 maritime patrols, 29 inter-hospital air ambulance tasks both nationally and internationally to the UK and Europe and four resupply missions in support of United Nations missions.

In June, the air corps responded to forest fire requests from Northern Ireland and conducted aerial fire-fighting and continued to support Garda Air Support Unit operations.