Gardaí investigating a landmark methamphetamine seizure at Cork port said the seizure was evidence that Ireland was now being used as a “transit point” for international drug smuggling cartels.
Officers continued to question two men arrested in County Kerry on Monday night after Friday’s seizure, with a decision on whether to release or charge them in connection with the €32.8 million capture not expected to be made until Wednesday. has been done.
Gardaí said they had completed searches of a number of homes in County Kerry, as well as one in Waterford.
Items recovered during the raid will now be analyzed for clues that could lead investigators to the source of the synthetic drugs.
It is understood that a large business in County Kerry that was raided on Friday was open for business as usual on Monday.
Gardaí confirmed a search was also carried out at commercial premises in Waterford on Sunday.
They did not reveal any connection to the operation, but the official said: “It was probably an auxiliary search. I don’t think anything significant happened there, but it happened.”
Gardaí believe the drugs were transported to Australia via Cork and they believe an international investigation is also underway.
An official said: “This is unusual. It’s certainly the first time we’ve clearly and specifically identified that we’re some sort of transit post because we’ve got product coming in that wasn’t destined for here.” [Ireland] We are planning to go out separately. That’s our understanding.
“There have probably been some seizures of meth in Ireland in the past, but nothing of this level. And none of these were specifically for this market. They were just passing through.
“As of now, there is no evidence that it was processed here. Initially we were considering that, but now we don’t think so.”
Gardaí said there was a significant international element to the operation, with Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel believed to be involved in it.
Cartel boss Morris O’Shea Salazar spent his teenage years in Killorglin, Co. Kerry, after losing his father in a car accident in Mexico.
Last July, he was named by a Chilean court as the leader of a group in the Sinaloa cartel that sought to organize a syndicate to transport drugs from Chile to Europe through ports and airports.
At a special court hearing at Kerry Local Court on Saturday, two men who had been detained on Monday night had their remand extended by 72 hours from Sunday morning.
The men, whose names cannot be published for legal reasons, are being detained under section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act.