Irishman arrested after €110m worth of cocaine seized on yacht off coast of Portugal
The PJ also said Irish authorities had assisted them.
AN IRISH national is among three people held after Portuguese police and military personnel intercepted a yacht with more than 1.5 tonnes of cocaine on board off the Azores.
Two Danish men were also arrested after 1,660 kilos of the class-A drug with a potential street value of around €110m were discovered on the 11-metre vessel.
All three were today languishing in Sao Miguel Prison in the Azores archipelago capital Ponta Delgada after being remanded behind bars by a judge following their first court appearance yesterday.
Portuguese police also confirmed yesterday Spanish counterparts had held the suspected leader of the criminal gang in a 'parallel' operation thought to have taken place on the Costa del Sol.
A taser gun and €63,000 in cash were seized following the arrest. The man's nationality has not been officially revealed but he is believed to be Danish.
The operation that led to the high-seas cocaine bust was codenamed Operation Vikings.
A spokesman for Portugal's Policia Judiciaria police force described the three men held off the Azores in an official statement as 'foreigners' but a well-placed source confirmed today they included an Irish national.
The PJ also said Irish authorities had assisted them.
In the lengthy statement, the Portuguese police force said: 'With the support of the Portuguese Navy, we launched an operation to combat international drug trafficking by sea.
'A sailing boat around 11 metres long was intercepted off the western group of the Azores archipelago as it crossed the Atlantic Ocean between South America and Europe with around 1,660 kg of cocaine on board.
'Operation Vikings is the result of a complex investigation that has taken place over the last two years, aimed at dismantling an international criminal organisation with transcontinental operations specialising in bringing large quantities of cocaine to the European continent and using our country as a platform to this end.
'Due to poor safety and seaworthiness conditions the three crew members of the sailboat, who have since been arrested by the PJ, were taken along with the narcotics to a ship belonging to the Portuguese Navy which deployed a wide range of resources involving more than 50 military personnel.
The PJ added in its statement: 'Given the complexity of the operation, the Portuguese Air Force, the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre-Narcotics (MAOC-N), the Ponta Delgada Maritime Police and the Ponta Delgada Port Authority all took part in the investigation.
'Likewise, given the nationality of the suspects and the geographical dispersion of their activities, the assistance provided by foreign counterparts in the context of international police co-operation, in particular the Spanish National Police, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Danish National Special Crimes Unit (NSK Danish Police) and the French and Irish authorities, was also relevant.
"The three detainees on the intercepted and seized vessel, foreigners aged between 43 and 51, have appeared in court in Ponta Delgada Court for initial questioning and been remanded in custody.
'As part of a parallel investigation in Spain targeting the same criminal organization, the Spanish National Police through its elite organised crime-fighting Greco Costa del Sol unit and acting in conjunction with Portuguese police, arrested a man believed to be the leader of the organisation.
'Officers seized €63,000 in cash, a GPS device, a taser gun, numerous pieces of computer and communications equipment, some of which was encrypted, as well as an unspecified amount of foreign currency from his home.'
None of the four suspects held on the boat and during the mainland Spain raid have been named.
In March last year 840 kilos of cocaine said at the time to have a potential street value of over €58m washed up off a number of beaches in Denmark.
It later transpired the drug haul was destined for Ireland, with reports at the time referencing links to a suspected drug trafficking operation in west Cork following a string of gardai arrests.
Three men, two from Spain and one with an address in Serbia who had been arrested in March last year, pleaded guilty at the non-jury Special Criminal Court in April to conspiring to bring drugs into Ireland.
They had been scheduled to appear at the three-judge court again earlier this week, although it was not immediately clear today if the hearing had gone ahead.
It is not known if the Portuguese police operation is linked in any way.
Although local reports in Portugal have put the estimated street value of the drugs at around €64m, their value in the UK and Ireland is believed to be closer to the €110m mark.
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