MKFox
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Sea Rescue Becomes Cocaine Recovery
Updated: 10:10, Tuesday July 03, 2007
Irish police have made their biggest single drugs haul ever, arresting a British man as they seized a tonne of cocaine.
Stash like this was worth £48m
Some 40 sealed packages of the drug was lifted from the sea off the coast of Mizen Head, Ireland's most southerly point.
The consignment, which had been on board a dinghy that capsized in rough seas, could be worth up to £48m.
The British man, who is in his 20s, can be held for up to seven days under anti-drugs legislation before being charged or released.
The suspect allegedly went out to sea along with another man in the small inflatable dinghy.
The boat capsized after being caught up in heavy swells and one man managed to swim to shore and raise the alarm.
A second man, who is now in police custody, was rescued a short time later.
Coastguard and lifeboat crews joined the search mission, but it quickly turned into a massive drugs squad operation.
Police are investigating a theory that the drugs originated in the Caribbean and a vehicle was waiting on the shore to pick up the consignment.
The drugs were wrapped in white waterproof bales said to be 3ft long by 2ft wide.
Residents reported seeing dozens of them bobbing in the sea at Dun Lough Bay about a mile off shore.
The west Cork coastline has been regarded as a notorious drug trafficking route over the past two decades.
Updated: 10:10, Tuesday July 03, 2007
Irish police have made their biggest single drugs haul ever, arresting a British man as they seized a tonne of cocaine.
Some 40 sealed packages of the drug was lifted from the sea off the coast of Mizen Head, Ireland's most southerly point.
The consignment, which had been on board a dinghy that capsized in rough seas, could be worth up to £48m.
The British man, who is in his 20s, can be held for up to seven days under anti-drugs legislation before being charged or released.
The suspect allegedly went out to sea along with another man in the small inflatable dinghy.
The boat capsized after being caught up in heavy swells and one man managed to swim to shore and raise the alarm.
A second man, who is now in police custody, was rescued a short time later.
Coastguard and lifeboat crews joined the search mission, but it quickly turned into a massive drugs squad operation.
Police are investigating a theory that the drugs originated in the Caribbean and a vehicle was waiting on the shore to pick up the consignment.
The drugs were wrapped in white waterproof bales said to be 3ft long by 2ft wide.
Residents reported seeing dozens of them bobbing in the sea at Dun Lough Bay about a mile off shore.
The west Cork coastline has been regarded as a notorious drug trafficking route over the past two decades.
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