|
 
Welcome to the Shroomery Message Board! Please  login or  register to post messages and view our members-only content. You'll gain access to additional forums, encrypted messages, file attachments, board customizations, and much more!
|
 veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 6,100
|
 Sunk: 200m cargo of smuggled cocaine [IE]
#7122105 - 07/02/07 11:13 PM (1 year, 3 months ago) |
|
|
Sunk: 200m cargo of smuggled cocaine
July 3, 2007 - independent.ie
AN audacious attempt to smuggle up to 200m worth of cocaine was scuppered yesterday when a gang overloaded their dinghy with too many bales of the drug.
Their bungling led to the biggest offshore drug haul in this country - depending on the purity of the cocaine the haul could be valued at up to 200m.
Two young Britons almost drowned and two more are thought to be on the run after the smuggling operation went disastrously wrong in treacherous waters off the West Cork coast.
It is now believed the dinghy capsized because it was dangerously overloadeded trying to bring ashore bales of cocaine from a large yacht.
The yacht had sailed to Irish territorial waters from the Caribbean.
A senior Customs and Excise official last night said the seizure was 'pure luck - good luck for us but bad luck for them'.
Sections of the Mizen Peninsula were sealed-off by gardai yesterday after search officials, responding to a capsized dinghy alert, were stunned to discover almost 50 bales of cocaine floating less than a kilometre offshore.
If all 50 plastic-wrapped bales - which weigh an estimated 500kg - are confirmed to contain high-grade South American cocaine the street value of the haul could vastly exceed 100m.
The drug bales were brought ashore by the Irish Coastguard helicopter and various rescue vessels within hours of the sea rescue.
The multi-agency operation featured the Irish Coastguard, gardai, Customs and Excise, and the Naval Service.
The drama began at 5am, west of Roaringwater Bay, after two or three men launched a small rib-type dinghy, possibly from a yacht, at Dunlough Bay, an isolated point between the Mizen and Three Castles Heads.
Sea conditions were rough at the time and the dinghy capsized around two kilometres from shore.
The three men - all English nationals in their early 20s and 30s - were wearing lifevests but did not have marine emergency flares or a radio.
One man managed to swim ashore and raised the alarm at an isolated farmhouse outside Goleen around 7am.
He was suffering from acute hypothermia and was taken to Bantry general hospital. A rescue operation was immediately mounted by the Irish Coastguard and RNLI. The Waterford-based Sikorsky SeaKing helicopter assisted in the rescue of a second man.
The man - semi-conscious in his lifevest - was airlifted to Bantry general hospital, also suffering from severe hypothermia.
Both men were said to be deeply traumatised.
Within minutes of the second man being rescued yesterday, search officials spotted a large number of packages floating on the sea surface.
These were recovered from 1pm onwards by the Sikorsky helicopter, Irish Coastguard and RNLI vessels and the Customs and Excise patrol cutter.
By 5pm, almost 50 packages had been recovered - all of which were described as large bales in white, waterproof plastic wrapping.
They each weigh between 5kg and 10kg.
The bales were brought ashore and immediately taken by Garda forensic officials for detailed analysis.
At 4.30pm, a 20-year old man was arrested by gardai under Section 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Act and taken to Bantry garda station for questioning.
He can now be detained for a period of up to seven days. Further arrests are now expected in connection with the affair.
Technical experts also began a detailed examination of an abandoned green Transit-style van though it is unclear if this vehicle is connected to the Englishmen.
The vehicle was towed away by gardai and taken to a secure yard for technical analysis. A second vehicle, a 4x4, was later seized in Crookhaven.
Officials are now reviewing all vessel movements in West Cork waters over the past 72 hours to try to determine the potential source of the drugs.
Last night, there was no trace of the dinghy's reported third occupant.
By mid-afternoon, the wreckage of the dinghy had been visible on rocks by the shoreline.
Gardai said it was unclear if there had been a third person in the dinghy. However, they are not discounting the possibility that the man successfully made it ashore and then fled the scene with an accomplice.
They are searching for two men, one of whom may be Irish, spotted over the weekend in the general Dunlough-Goleen area.
Detailed descriptions of both have been circulated at all Irish ports and airports.
The marine search was scaled down at 6pm last evening.
Customs spokesman, Patrick O'Sullivan, admitted that further drug discoveries cannot be ruled out until a detailed search of the seabed and cliffs is concluded.
"We wont know for sure until the seas drop down and calm down. That will be overnight and tomorrow so we will continue with the search and bring in some divers to help," he said.
Search officials will today comb a number of uninhabited islands in the area in case anyone managed to reach them. This will also involve a trawl for drug bales that may have sunk to the seabed.
|
 emit
Trippy 70'sSci-Fi Movie
 
Registered: 06/20/07
Posts: 124
Loc: my place ;)
Last seen: 4 days, 21 hours
|
Re: Sunk: €200m cargo of smuggled cocaine [IE] [Re: veggie]
#7122910 - 07/03/07 02:52 AM (1 year, 3 months ago) |
|
|
damnnnnn sucks to be them, shouldnt have overloaded their boat
--------------------
yes...
|
Kamin
Registered: 02/04/07
Posts: 405
Last seen: 2 months, 30 days
|
Re: Sunk: 200m cargo of smuggled cocaine [IE] [Re: emit]
#7124075 - 07/03/07 12:23 PM (1 year, 3 months ago) |
|
|
Time to pull out the scuba gear.
|
rajking
Acidize YourLife
Registered: 04/09/06
Posts: 35
Last seen: 19 days, 5 hours
|
Re: Sunk: 200m cargo of smuggled cocaine [IE] [Re: Kamin]
#7124488 - 07/03/07 01:57 PM (1 year, 3 months ago) |
|
|
Somebody, or rather some people is going to die for that fuckup.
|
CaptainLinger
A Fungus Amongus
Registered: 05/25/07
Posts: 1,756
Last seen: 9 months, 5 days
|
Re: Sunk: 200m cargo of smuggled cocaine [IE] [Re: veggie]
#7125252 - 07/03/07 04:59 PM (1 year, 3 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Somebody, or rather some people is going to die for that fuckup.
|
xk3m_indica
Seafarer
Registered: 08/17/05
Posts: 8,764
Loc: Cyprus Grove
Last seen: 1 day, 19 hours
|
Re: Sunk: 200m cargo of smuggled cocaine [IE] [Re: CaptainLinger]
#7126070 - 07/03/07 08:33 PM (1 year, 3 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
CaptainLinger said:
Quote:
Somebody, or rather some people is going to die for that fuckup.
fuck oath mate
--------------------
Ego sum fructus mihi mente
Ego sum partem hoc universo
ergo
Ego sum universum experioraret semet
Ego sum universum argumentaret semet
***
 : i2cv76
***
RIP Albert Hofmann
|
spacelord
livin' cropcircle
Registered: 05/15/07
Posts: 354
Last seen: 1 year, 3 months
|
Re: Sunk: 200m cargo of smuggled cocaine [IE] [Re: xk3m_indica]
#7126334 - 07/03/07 09:36 PM (1 year, 3 months ago) |
|
|
Some kid will end up finding one of those packs wash up on the beach.
| |
|
|
|
Previous
Index
Next
Threaded
Edit 
Reply 
Quote 
