INVESTIGATORS believe up to TWENTY major organised crime gangs across Europe were involved in the plot to smuggle €157m worth of cocaine to Ireland.
And the Irish Sun can also reveal officers from the Joint Task Force suspect the transatlantic smuggling enterprise was masterminded in Dubai.
Gardai and Revenue officials confirmed that the 2.2 tonnes seized in a daring raid by the Defence Forces’s Army Ranger Wing on the MV Matthew off the coast of Cork on Tuesday was the largest drugs seizure in the history of the State.
Detectives from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau will now liaise with their counterparts in the UAE as they attempt to identify anyone connected to the huge haul found inside the cargo ship’s container.
They include those who financed the transport and those who provided logistical support.
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KINAHAN LINK PROBE
Although Daniel Kinahan’s mob will be investigated due to their links to Colombian narco terrorists, investigators suspect the shipment was arranged by a “network” of crime gangs across Europe.
One senior investigator told us: “This enterprise was all about criminal networks working together.
“The Kinahan organisation would not have been capable of organising this by themselves due to the recent law enforcement activity around them but they could have provided finance for the enterprise.
“Due to the size of the haul, there could be as many as twenty leading organised crime groups providing the support and finance to facilitate such a huge shipment.
“The belief that the origins of this enterprise lie in Dubai where many of Europe’s most senior organised crime figures are based.”
ADDITIONAL ARRESTS
Gardai this evening arrested a further three men in connection with the haul - bringing the total number to six.
A spokesperson said: "Gardaí investigating the detention of the Panamanian registered bulk cargo vessel, MV MATTHEW and associated events have this evening arrested three men for alleged organised crime offences contrary to the Criminal Justice Act, 2006.
"All three are detained under section 50 Criminal Justice Act 2007 at Garda stations in the Southern Region."
As investigators continue to undertake a “deep rummage” of the vessel, we can also reveal that the two men arrested earlier this week after a trawler hit a sandbank 12km from Rosslare, Co Wexford, arrived in Ireland last week.
And they were also under surveillance by GNDOCB teams when they bought the ‘Castlemore’ fishing trawler in Castletownbere days before it ran aground.
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SURVEILLANCE OPERATION
Officers suspect the trawler was to rendezvous with the MV Matthew for the collection of cocaine which was due to be delivered to the south of England.
But their plans were foiled when the trawler hit the sandbank.
The two men - one from the UK and the other from Russia - remain in Garda custody.
The initial Garda plan was to monitor the pair receiving the drugs before arresting them as they transferred them.
But the focus changed to the MV Matthew when the fishing trawler ran into difficulties.
MAJOR CASH FIND
The captain of the cargo ship - who was caught with up to $100,000 - also remains in Garda custody on suspicion of drug trafficking.
Gardai confirmed that a medical evacuation of the ship took place and the man was now in custody.
It’s understood he was attacked by crew members as the authorities honed in on the ship and its illegal contents.
We can reveal that 20 crew members were on the ship at the time it was seized by Army Rangers and they will be interviewed by Gardai to establish if they knew anything about the massive shipment.
While investigators said that the 2.2 tonnes seized was worth €157 million based on a kilo of cocaine being valued at €70,000, senior Gardai and Revenue officials confirmed that the mammoth haul would be worth much more by the time it hits the streets.
At a press conference by the Joint Task Force, Assistant Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly described the seizure and the operation as “hugely significant”.
'UNRELENTING DETERMINATION'
Asst Comm Kelly, from the Organised and Serious Crime Unit, said: “It shows our unrelenting determination to disrupt and dismantle networks, which are determined to bring drugs into our country.
“These groups are transnational groups. They are working all across the world and, because of that, we need to work with our international partners.”
He added: “This is a huge hit for the people involved in this.”
The senior Garda confirmed that the drugs originated from one of South America’s “murderous cartels” and a number of organised crime groups in Ireland and in the UK and Europe, with direct links to South America, came together to apportion the drugs.
He added: “There’s no large shipment like this coming into our ports or transiting our country without an Irish criminal group involved.”
He couldn’t confirm if any cocaine had left the ship, either by way of disposal or had been collected, prior to it being seized.
HARSH CONDITIONS
He also said that the conditions had made it impossible to board the Castlemore fishing trawler to carry out any searches as of yet.
The Fleet Commander for the Irish Naval Service described the seizure of the boat as an extremely complex military operation.
Commander Tony Geraghty said the impounding of the vessel was made more difficult by the poor weather and trying to predict the actions of the criminal gangs.
The Naval Service fired warning shots during the operation, he said, because the merchant ship refused to follow instructions and an escalated use of force was used.
He said: “The ship is 190m long with an exceptionally high free board, so it would have been very hard to get on board.
“If the weather had been better we would have been able to launch a boarding party. Instead, conditions dictated the necessity to call in the Army Ranger Wing who fast roped onto the ship.”
FIRST TIME USE
The Director General of Revenue and Customs’ Operations said provisions in the Customs Act 2015 were used for the first time to appoint Defence Forces personnel as customs officers to go on board and secure the vessel.
Gerry Harrahill said appointed customs officers can board a vessel at sea but because of the weather conditions and the movements of the ship, customs were not equipped to board.
The ship did not comply and he said it became obvious that force was required.
He added: “Our legislation provided for it. It was the first time we had to use it.”
The Army Rangers were appointed customs officers in less than an hour and seized the ship.
Mr Harrahill said that after they had taken control of the ship and escorted it to Cork, it took much of the night to off-load all the drugs that had been seized but that had been completed and the huge haul was now in “secure storage”.
'PHENOMENAL WORK'
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar praised the “phenomenal work” of the agencies involved in the operation.
He said: “I want to commend the phenomenal work done by the Gardai, done by the Defence Forces and also the Revenue Customs service interdicting a vessel off Wexford.”
Investigators believe not all the drugs were destined for Ireland.
Members of the highly-trained Army Ranger Wing descended by fast-rope from a helicopter onto the ship on Tuesday, which became the focus point of the multi-agency operation which began on Friday.
The agencies said the seized MV Matthew is a Panamanian-registered bulk cargo vessel originating in South America.
The elite unit boarded the ship after the Naval Service’s patrol vessel, the LE William Butler Yeats, fired warning shots in its direction.
Two helicopters and two planes were also involved in the operation.
The Air Corps and Naval Service had been tracking the container ship over a number of days.
