#drugsmuggling – An 18–metre yacht (60–foot) carrying an estimated street value of between €70m and €80m of Cocaine seized off the South West coast has arrived in to Cork Harbour after arrest by the Irish Navy last night.

Three men believed to be from the UK were detained on board the yacht, a Naval Cantiere 62 type, called the Makayabella. 

The yacht was 200 miles off Mizen Head when the seizure was made. It was boarded by Navy drug interdiction personnel under cover of darkness in on Tuesday morning.

The shipment is understood to have originated in South America, while the yacht set sail from the Caribbean,

Six years ago, another 60–foot yacht on a transatlantic passge fom the Caribbean was also intercepted on the southwest coast by Gardaí, the Naval Service and Customs. A consignment of at least 1.5 tonnes of cocaine found on onboard was seized.The crew of that yacht were arrested and taken into custody by the LE Roisin at Castletownbere harbour. That haul matched the 2007 record €440m seizure at Dunlough Bay in west Cork.

The latest seizure was from on a vessel that was taken into custody around 200 miles off the southwest coast last night.

A full garda technical examination of the Makayabella will get under way this morning.

The seizure of around a tonne of cocaine is believed to be one of the biggest drugs seizures at sea in Europe this year.

Details of the operation were kept secret to facilitate follow-up investigations, both in Ireland and abroad.

The vessel is believed to be in poor condition following its transatlantic crossing.

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According to RTE News, the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre for Narcotics, based in Lisbon in Portugal, is also understood to have been involved in the operation, along with Britain's National Crime Agency, as well as security and customs agencies elsewhere.