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The Garda Síochána has called on the coastal and lakeside communities of Sligo and Leitrim to help them fight crime along the waterways, following a successful drug seizure.
Operation Dualgas will not focus exclusively on drug smuggling, but instead follows successful searches of islands around Lough Gill on the border of both counties that recently uncovered nearly € 250,000 worth of drugs.
Saying Gardaí is checking for criminal threats, Chief Superintendent Aidan Glacken said the new campaign would target everything from drugs to the theft of boat engines.
Operation Dualgas is part of Coastal Watch’s broader strategy, which aims to work with communities to gather intelligence on suspicious activity.
Additional patrols will be established to identify routes used by criminals. Drugs will be a target, although historically most of the large seizures off the Irish coast have been concentrated in the south.
Human trafficking
In West Cork last year, Chief Superintendent Con Cadogan said agricultural groups, communities and fishermen could ensure that the coast is not used for drug importation.
Dualgas operations, which means “duty”, will involve the Naval Service, Tax and Customs, the Coast Guard, Waterways Ireland, Inland Fisheries Ireland and local authorities.
It is also looking into rivers and lakes to counter boat and motor theft and property damage. Human trafficking has also been identified as a concern.
By working with state agencies, local communities, who suffer when amenities are abused, can help “collectively detect and prevent crime” on land and water, Chief Supt Glacken said.
Andrew Ryan, Revenue’s manager of maritime operations, said he works closely with gardaí to “deter and detect drug, cigarette and tobacco smuggling and other prohibitions and restrictions.”
Ireland’s Largest Marine Drug Seizures
The Makayabella – September 2014
A boarding party of the Navy ship LÉ Niamh discovered 1,025 kg of cocaine worth 290 million euros on board the Makayabella off the coast of Cork.
Intended for the UK, it went on to be one of the largest seizures in the state’s history and followed a Joint Task Force operation with the Naval Service, Customs and Garda.
The operation to track the vessel as it crossed the Atlantic from the Caribbean also involved the National Crime Agency and the National Maritime Information Center in the UK, as well as French and Venezuelan authorities.
Later, three Britons were jailed for their part in the plot and a fourth man was convicted of money laundering related to the same investigation.
An Irish sailing enthusiast later bought the Makayabella at auction for € 70,000.
Dances with Waves – November 2008
The Dances with Waves yacht was boarded 150 nautical miles southwest of Mizen Head off the coast of Co Cork in extreme weather conditions. The planned operation involved the seizure of more than 400 million euros of cocaine in 74 bales of more than 1.5 tons.
In preparation for such bad luck, the smugglers had a log book entry claiming they had discovered the drugs at sea, but the three were eventually convicted and sentenced to 10 years each in 2009.
They had bought the yacht in Trinidad and Tobago for 120,000 euros before traveling to Venezuela in South America to collect the drugs. Their destination was Caernarfon Bay in Wales.
Irish Naval Service Lieutenant Commander Martin Brett, who received praise for his role in the seizure, later said that the overwhelming amount of 80 percent pure cocaine represented 155 million lines by the time it would have been cut and sold in the Street.
Lucky Day – July 2007
Englishman Martin Wanden (58) was found floating in the ocean alongside 65 bales of cocaine worth 440 million euros in Dunlough Bay on the Mizen Peninsula in west Cork.
The drugs weighing 1.5 tons had been transferred from the Lucky Day catamaran to a rib at a rendezvous point some 50 km offshore. The cocaine was later found to be 75% pure.
Things went wrong because one of the rib’s engines had been filled with the wrong type of fuel, causing it to wobble and sink in rough seas. Wanden was discovered by the crew of a lifeboat.
La Posidonia – November 1999
Customs and naval officers aboard the LÉ Ciara boarded the Posidonia, a converted trawler, and discovered a € 18 million booty of cannabis resin. They brought the ship ashore at Schull in Cork.
The illicit cargo had been collected off Morocco and was scheduled to be unloaded onto a ship near the Irish coast, where it would be brought ashore.
Captain Richard Preece was imprisoned for nine years and two other crew members, fellow Englishmen, Barry Court and Matthew Simkins, were imprisoned for seven years.
Six years later, the ship was to be completely refurbished as part of a Limerick project to teach the city’s teenagers new skills.
The Gemeos – September 1998
After a long transatlantic journey, the 15-meter Gemeos arrived at the port of Kinsale in Cork only to find itself at the unwanted end of a customs and garda inspection.
It was not in vain: the agents discovered 325 kg of cocaine worth 61 million euros.
After a three-week trial in the Cork Circuit Criminal Court, its captain, John O’Toole of Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, was imprisoned for 20 years. His partner, Englishman Michael Tune received 14 years in prison for his part.
75 percent of pure cocaine had been brought from Panama in Central America, hidden under bunks, diesel tanks and behind a bulwark.
The Sea Mist – September 1996
Like the Gemeos two years later, the Sea Mist’s fate was sealed once it reached port, this time in Cork.
When they searched it, customs agents found 599 kg of cocaine worth 125 million euros.
The converted trawler had missed his rendezvous with a yacht 100 miles west of Brest.
Local suspicions were aroused when it docked at East Ferry and customs, gardaí and the naval service were alerted.
Although the five crewmembers were tried, only their captain Gordon Richards was convicted. He was imprisoned for 17 years.
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