Crime & Law

Suspicious boat near Donegal cocaine find led gardaí to searches in Dundalk

Investigators hope seized laptops and phones will provide insight into the botched smuggling operation

Garda forensic officers examine the drugs cache discovered by a beach walker at a remote beach in North Donegal. Photograph: NW Newspix

Conor Gallagher
Thu Mar 28 2024 - 18:16

Gardaí investigating the discovery of over €4 million worth of cocaine on Donegal beaches last year have seized laptops and phones which they believe contain details of the smuggling operation.

The seizures were made during a number of searches in Dundalk, Co Louth, on Thursday morning. Investigating gardaí in Milford, Co Donegal, carried out the searches alongside Dundalk gardaí after establishing a link between a suspicious boat registered in Northern Ireland and suspected smugglers living in Co Louth.

The packages, weighing 60kg, were washed up at Ballyhiernan Beach in Fanad and at Tramore in Dunfanaghy in July 2023. Gardaí suspect they were due to be picked up at sea by a drug smuggling gang, having been dumped overboard from a larger vessel.

Bad weather likely made it impossible for the criminals to retrieve the drugs, leading to the packages washing ashore. A massive search operation involved the Garda Air and Water Units and Revenue was launched to locate other consignments which may have come ashore.

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Around the same time, a boat was impounded at Magheraroarty in Donegal and the pier was sealed off to the public.

The boat, docked at Magheraroarty Pier, was a Northern Ireland-registered vessel. It is understood the boat was sold by the previous unsuspecting owner in recent weeks.

Investigations into the purchase of the boat led to the searches in Dundalk on Thursday, sources said.

Although no arrests were made, garda are hopeful the electronic devices seized will provide insight into the smuggling operation. A number of documents were also seized.

“This morning Donegal gardaí assisted by Louth gardaí have carried out searches at a number of locations in Dundalk,” the Garda said in a statement. “Items of potential evidential value to the investigation have been seized, including electronic devices and documents.”

After the cocaine was located on two beaches, gardaí in Milford appealed to residents in the Fanad Head area with coastal land or people using the north Donegal coastline to report any suspicious sightings.

Investigators also liaised with gardaí in Cork to determine if drugs washed up on the south coast were from the same consignment.

Detectives in Cork recovered 2kg of cocaine with a street value of €180,000 when members of the public found the drugs in two separate occasions – on a beach in east Cork in early June and on a beach nearer Cork City, approximately a week later.

Conor Gallagher

Conor Gallagher

Conor Gallagher is Crime and Security Correspondent of The Irish Times

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