Drugs seized off Cork 'destined for UK market'

John Alan Brooks, 60, from Blackpool in England, is on trial in Birmingham charged in connection with the seizure of the drugs.

Asst Commissioner Tony Quilter this morning told the jury the Irish market for cocaine could not sustain a shipment on this scale.

On November 6 2008, in a joint operation involving the Navy, garda and Customs, a Naval Service boarding party from the LE Niamh detained a 65-foot yacht, Dances with Waves, 240km off the Cork coast.

The yacht had been tracked by satellite on its journey from the Caribbean. It was carrying 75 bales of cocaine, weighing just over 1.5 tonnes.

The three crew members on board the yacht were arrested and charged with possession of the drugs.

They were each jailed for ten years in May 2009.

Analysis of the cocaine found that it was 70% pure, giving it a street value of 400m, making it the second biggest seizure in the history of the State.

Separately, garda had established a joint investigation with the Serious Organised Crime Agency based in London, to track down those behind the shipment.

That investigation led to the arrest last November of Mr Brooks.

He is now on trial at Birmingham Crown Court, charged with conspiracy to import the drugs into the United Kingdom.

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Drugs seized off Cork 'destined for UK market'