DUBLIN, Ireland, Nov. 7, 2008

Irish Cops Find $650M Of Cocaine On Yacht

Officials Reportedly Tracked Smugglers Boat From Caribbean To Ireland's "Cocaine Coast"

  • Armed Gardai secure Castletown Bere Pier in Co. Cork, Ireland as the luxury yacht

    Armed Gardai secure Castletown Bere Pier in Co. Cork, Ireland as the luxury yacht "Dances with Waves" which was seized off the west coast of Ireland carrying a huge haul of cocaine arrives, Nov. 7, 2008.  (AP Photo/PA)

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(CBS/AP)  Police say that armed officers from Ireland's navy and police have seized an Irish-record haul of cocaine on a yacht and arrested three men.

Police say more than 1.5 tons of cocaine being smuggled from the Caribbean was found Thursday aboard the yacht about 150 miles off the southwest Cork coast. Two of the men arrested come from Britain, and one from Dublin.

Ireland's national police force estimates the street value of the seized cocaine at $650 million. That would break the previous $560 million record set last year when a similar smuggling operation off the Cork coast was detected - after the gang's ship capsized in a storm, dumping bales of cocaine into the sea.

The Belfast Telegraph reported that officials had the 60-foot yacht, called Dances With Waves, under surveillance since it left its port of departure in the Caribbean. The exact location of the boat's departure was not released.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency officials have cited Ireland's southern coast, dubbed the "Irish Box," as a particularly difficult to patrol entry point for drug smugglers into the lucrative Irish market.

A July 2007 article in The Guardian newspaper - after the previous record-setting cocaine haul - quoted the DEA as saying the coastline was "nearly impossible to patrol" due to the unpredictable and often treacherous weather and the irregular coast.

Irish Defense Minister Willie O'Dea told Britain's ITV News on Friday: "With these little inlets and the length of the Irish coastline, it was very attractive to bring drugs in... It's less attractive now.

"I think it will be a salutary lesson to people who think they can easily get drugs in here and there's absolutely no risk whatsoever, as was the case for too long."

© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Add a Comment
by lynxha November 8, 2008 7:30 PM EST
I think the smugglers should be put to death, these are the type of people that bring death and destruction to the youth of the beautiful country of Ireland
Reply to this comment
by evian_ycnan November 7, 2008 4:55 PM EST
U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency officials have cited Ireland''s southern coast, dubbed the "Irish Box," as a particularly difficult to patrol entry point for drug smugglers into the lucrative Irish market.

=================

Would anyone care to enlighten the DEA on one of Ireland''s biggest industries along that coast from circa 1600 to around 1930?

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9B05E6DF123AE033A25754C1A9649C94689FD7CF&oref=slogin

1889 NYT article on Irish Smuggling.
Reply to this comment
by evian_ycnan November 7, 2008 4:49 PM EST
Coca Boat Not Float Like Cork.
Reply to this comment
by inketolstoy November 7, 2008 4:33 PM EST
Come on CBS. You can come up with cheesier titles than this. How about "No Snow in Ireland this Month", or "Irish Investigators follow their nose to nab One and a half tons of Coke."
Reply to this comment
by yourmidwayth November 7, 2008 3:10 PM EST
It sucks they lost their ship...lol another drop in the bucket for them
Reply to this comment
by nmacc November 7, 2008 2:03 PM EST
"If only these smugglers would receive the kind of harsh prison terms usually reserved for the poor black kid who sells a few grams of the *** only to support his own habit, or even to feed himself. If only! "

This has happened before and last time, they did!
http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0723/drugs.html


Reply to this comment
by timothyone-2009 November 7, 2008 1:28 PM EST
If only these smugglers would receive the kind of harsh prison terms usually reserved for the poor black kid who sells a few grams of the *** only to support his own habit, or even to feed himself. If only!
Reply to this comment

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