Irish navy missed drugs bust because of St Patrick’s Day
The Irish navy’s sole active ship did not join a hunt for cocaine shipments dropped at sea by drug smugglers because it was taking part in St Patrick’s Day celebrations.
LÉ George Bernard Shaw was the only active ship because of a combination of a manpower crisis, which has led to crew shortages and mechanical problems.
Police believe they shut down a major drugs smuggling pipeline on Friday after making 10 arrests, including of several divers, in south-west Ireland.
The men were suspected of planning to pick up waterproof containers of South American cartel cocaine, worth tens of millions of euros, thrown overboard with tracking devices off the coast of Cork.
Gardai investigating a suspected attempt to land the illegal drugs near Skibbereen made a formal request to the Irish Naval Service for help.
But the sole available ship was on its way to Dún Laoghaire to take part in the St Patrick’s Day celebrations in the County Dublin town, the Irish Times reported.
Tours were offered to the public as the ship remained docked in Dún Laoghaire over the weekend. On Sunday, the crew took part in the St Patrick’s parade.
That meant it could not help in the massive search of the huge expanses of water where the cocaine, some of it thought to be destined for the UK and European markets, is thought to be hidden.
‘Ground zero for smuggling narcotics into Europe’
Defence Forces told the Irish Times they had received the request. Because it was an inshore coastal operation, the Naval Service Diving Section was deployed instead.
It is not clear that the Shaw would have been sent had it been available but it was reported to be equipped for drugs searches.
Cathal Berry, a former officer and the independent MP for Kildare, told the newspaper it was “unacceptable” that there was just a single ship on duty.
“Ireland’s Atlantic coast is now ground zero for smuggling narcotics into Europe. This is primarily due to the precarious state of the Irish navy. There is no substitute for hulls on the water providing a visible maritime presence to deter and disrupt smugglers,” he said.
The active fleet was reduced to just two ships last year due to the personnel crisis. Military sources said the Shaw had been the only available ship for the last three weeks.
Ireland has fewer ships to patrol its waters than at any other time since the 1970s.
In February Leo Varadkar, the prime minister, defended Ireland’s commitment to security after a report by the London-based Policy Exchange think tank accused Dublin of freeloading on defence by relying on the Royal Navy to protect its waters.
