TWO HELD AS CUSTOMS SEIZE IEP13M COCAINE AFTER SEARCH OF BOAT

TWO men, one Irish, one English, are in custody after 160 kilograms of
cocaine worth between IEP13-IEP26 million was found on a boat in
Kinsale yesterday by officers from the Customs National Drugs Team.

But mystery surrounds the fate of a third man who may have eluded
capture by boarding a plane for the US on Thursday night.

Sources close to the operation said the 50ft by 20ft Spanish
registered catamaran, Gemeoas, was towed into Kinsale on Monday and
tied up at a private mooring without permission.

Its last port of call was Tenerife in the Canary Islands, but it is
understood to have originated in the Caribbean or South America and
experienced engine trouble off the south coast.

Customs officers became suspicious after routine questioning of the
crew - a 51-year-old Dubliner with an address in Spain and a British
citizen in his 30s. An initial inspection revealed nothing and the
crew were allowed book into a guesthouse in the town. However, the
gardai searched their room where they found a small firearm and 50
rounds of ammunition.

Yesterday, a Customs rummage team undertook a detailed search of the
boat. They found the cocaine, which was destined for the UK market,
sealed in one kilo packages hidden in secret compartments under two
beds in the crew quarters.

District Customs manager Brendan Mulcahy, who carried out the search
of the boat, said the seizure was a major success for the Customs
National Drugs Team.

"These drugs were found expertly built in two deep concealments in the
fabric of the vessel. The value we are putting on the shipment is at
least IEP13 million but once it has been tested for its purity, it
could well rise to much higher than that," he said.

There were conflicting reports, however, that when the boat docked it
had three crewmen on board but only two were later arrested under
Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.

They were released at lunch time yesterday, rearrested by gardai and
charged under the Criminal Justice Drugs Trafficking Act and can be
held for seven days.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady