Irish patrol vessels seize cocaine worth €160 million

The drugs are estimated to have a street value of around €160 million.

The Irish Navy confirmed in a statement that a joint task force of the Naval Service, Air Corps, Army Ranger Wing, Revenue Customs Service and An Garda Síochána ’have implemented a co-ordinated operation at sea, which resulted in the detention of a Panamanian registered bulk cargo vessel originating in South America, MV Matthew’.

It said it deployed offshore patrol vessel LÉ William Butler Yeats, a 90m x 14m vessel commissioned into the naval fleet in 2016, along with two AW139 helicopters, one CASA fixed wing aircraft and one PC12 fixed wing aircraft.

“The container ship was tracked by both Air Corps and the Naval Service assets over a number of days and was detained following the firing of warning shots in its direction by the LÉ William Butler Yeats,” the Navy said. “A specialist team from the Army Ranger Wing then deployed by helicopter onto the MV Matthew via fast rope insertion in challenging conditions. The ARW made the vessel safe and enabled its boarding by officials and personnel from the Naval Service, the Garda National Drugs Unit, Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) and Revenue’s Customs Service. 

“The vessel was escorted by the Naval Service to an Irish Port where it will be detained to allow for a detailed search and investigation by the relevant State agencies.”

The four men, Cumali Ozgen, a 48-year-old with an address in the Netherlands; Saeid Hassani, a 37-year-old Iranian national; Mykhalio Gavryk, a 30-year-old Ukrainian national; and Vitaliy Vlasoi, a 31-year-old Ukrainian national, were charged with possession of drugs, namely cocaine, on September 24 for the purpose of supplying it within the Irish State.

In court on Tuesday October 3, they only spoke to indicate what kind of translator they would need.