Firearms seized in searches following discovery of 546kg of drugs in Cork

Firearms were seized, two men were arrested and a series of searches were undertaken in Cork and further afield yesterday after a massive multi-million euro drug seizure in Cork port.

The seizure of 546kg of synthetic drugs – believed to be crystal methamphetamine and with an estimated street value of €32.8 million - was made during a joint operation involving members of An Garda Síochána and Revenue’s Customs Service yesterday morning.

A number of follow up searches were carried out in both Cork and Kerry, which resulted in the arrests and the weapons seizure.

“Garda personnel from the Kerry Divisional Drugs Unit, Cork and a number of Garda units were involved in the operation,” An Garda Síochána said in a statement last night.

“Follow up searches were conducted in Kerry and Cork which resulted in the arrests of two men and the seizure of two firearms.” 

 The follow-up searches were investigating drug trafficking and organised crime offences, according to Revenue.

The two men, aged in their 40s, who were arrested remained in custody last night in garda stations in the southern region under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007.

In a statement yesterday, the Port of Cork Company confirmed a multi-agency operation was taking place in Cork Harbour, adding that it could not comment on any operations other than to say it was "supporting the various agencies as is needed".

This seizure is part of Revenue’s ongoing joint investigations involving organised crime groups and the importation, sale and supply of illegal drugs. If businesses, or members of the public, have any information regarding drug smuggling, they can contact Revenue in confidence on phone number 1800 295 295.

Previous seizure

This latest major drugs seizure at the Port of Cork’s Ringaskiddy facility comes almost five months after a Joint Task Force operation involving gardaí, the naval service, the army rangers and revenue’s customs service led to the seizure of two tonnes of cocaine with a value of at least €157m off the coast of Cork.

There were dramatic scenes in the operation on September 23 when army rangers rappelled from a helicopter on to the deck of the MV Matthew, a Panama flagged 190m long ship which had started its voyage to Cork in August.

The Panamanian vessel was headed into international waters off the coast of Cork when it was confronted by the LÉ William Butler Yeats. Its crew ignored orders to stop and warning shots had to be fired.

The September cocaine seizure was ‘intelligence led’, the Garda Press Office confirmed at that time. A naval service spokesperson confirmed to The Echo there had been no involvement of the service in the latest drugs seizure.

Drugs not likely destined for Cork

Meanwhile, yesterday’s significant seizure of synthetic drugs in Cork was likely not destined for local consumption, the General Manager of HSE Social Inclusion and Primary Care, with responsibility for drugs and alcohol service, has told The Echo.

David Lane said that crystal meth was not really available in the Cork and Kerry region.

“In terms of treatment services and the work that we do in terms of people caught up in addiction and who are maybe homeless also, we haven’t seen any trend in relation to that in recent years and even currently,” he told The Echo.

“You’ll always have people using different types of drugs – the big profile we have here is the amount of poly-drug use that would happen, that’s where people would be using all different types of substances, whether they would be illegal or over the counter medication and alcohol and mixing all together.

“That’s a common type of feature for us in terms of treatment services that we provide and the nature of the drug use that does happen.” Emphasising that he wasn’t speaking about the drugs seizure in Cork on Friday from a perspective of the Gardaí or Revenue, Mr Lane said that given the quantity of drugs seized, he was “very much of the view that was something that was not destined for here in this country”.

“In terms of the numbers of those who would use that type of drug, we don’t have the market for it,” he said. 

“That’s not to say it won’t happen in time because no country is immune to trends that might occur in relation to drug use. But, if you were to look at current treatment service providers and the people who are going through the services that we provide, we’re not seeing that at all.”