CUSTOMS OFFICIALS SEIZE HUGE POUNDS 15M DRUGS HAUL OFF WEST CORK

THE massive consignment of cannabis seized early yesterday off West Cork
was most likely destined for Britain.

The haul, with a street value of between pounds 12m and pounds 15m, was a
further feather in the cap for the Irish authorities that have captured
over pounds 200m of illegal drugs within the past two years.

The huge drugs busts are likely to precipitate a major price hike in the
illegal drugs trade in the run up to Christmas and the Millennium
celebrations.

Three UK nationals remained in custody overnight in Bandon Garda Station
following yesterday morning's arrest of a converted fishing trawler with
its cargo of one and a half metric tonnes of cannabis resin.

The British registered vessel Posidonia had been under surveillance by the
Irish authorities since 5am on Tuesday when it entered Irish territorial
waters.

The illegal cargo aboard the 18 metre wooden trawler, it emerged, had not
been fully concealed.

An armed boarding party from the naval services, accompanied by Customs and
Excise officers, have revealed that they found part of the haul in the
wheelhouse of the twin masted vessel.

"It was loosely scattered about the wheelhouse and two other compartments,"
Customs' sources said. The three crewmen, aged 52, 49 and 32, were detained
after the L.E. Ciara had escorted the 1947 built ketch into Schull Harbour
at 2.45am yesterday.

Garda forensic experts are expected to complete, early today, their
examination of the cache before removing it from the detained vessel.

The consignment was the largest coastal seizure this year. The parcelled
bales of cannabis resin, reportedly of a high grade, originated in Morocco.

Navigational experts yesterday examined the vessel's charts to establish
its route and the number of days that the Posidonia had spent at sea.
Registered in Hull, it was not in good shape, generally, but had modern
navigational equipment.

The vessel was believed to have completed a week long sailing from the
North African coastline before being detained six miles off the Irish
coast, south east of the Fastnet.

Although it was likely that there may have been satellite surveillance of
the vessel for the past week, West Cork based members of the Customs and
Excise, part of the National Drugs Team, disclosed that confidential
information led to the seizure.

It was strongly hinted that the vessel attracted attention of other ships
as it passed through fishing grounds off the south coast earlier in the week.

Customs and Excise officers, on a coastal alert since early on Tuesday,
sought the assistance of the naval services just before 7pm that day.

The L.E. Ciara's Lt. Comdt. Martin McGrath confirmed yesterday that the
vessel had been under discreet surveillance. The 50 ft. boat had been
monitored for several hours before being intercepted by an eight member
boarding party at 10.45pm.

The naval officer said that the crew of the Posidonia were aware of the
L.E. Ciara's presence but the boarding operation, under the cover of
darkness, possibly took the crew by surprise.

Wind conditions at the time of the boarding, he said, had not been favourable.

"Once the vessel was secured by the boarding party, it was taken to Schull.
It became obvious," he said, "that there was a large quantity of a certain
substance aboard."

All three men were detained under Section 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Act,
that permits gardae to hold them for 48 hours without a court order.