Woman arrested linked with historic cargo ship drug bust

A woman has been arrested as part of an ongoing investigations into Ireland’s largest ever cocaine seizure from a cargo ship off the Cork coast in September.

The woman, who is in her 30s, was taken into custody in Dublin following a Joint Agency Task Force (JATF) operation on Tuesday.

She is currently detained under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2007 at a garda station in Dublin where she can be held for up to seven days.

On 26 September, warning shots rang out over Cork Harbour as military personnel boarded the Panamanian registered bulk cargo vessel MV Matthew where they discovered an estimated €157m worth of cocaine, the largest seizure of the drug in the nation’s history.

The seizure was the result of a multi-agency operation comprising members of the Revenue Customs Service, Naval Service, and An Garda Síochána.

Four men were initially arrested following the seizure and appeared in court.

Tuesday’s operation was carried out by members attached to the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) and Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) who conducted coordinated search operations in both jurisdictions simultaneously.

In the course of the operation, members of GNDOCB conducted searches at locations in the Dublin area where the woman in her 30s was arrested. Detectives from the PSNI’s Organised Crime Branch conducted a number of their own searches.

A spokesperson for the PSNI confirmed that detectives from its organised crime branch, who carried out searches in Newry, seized a number of items, including a vehicle and mobile phones. All have been removed for further examination.

Gardaí have confirmed that investigations are ongoing.Michael Olney

molney@corkindependent.com