Operation Seabight - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Operation Seabight, or Sea Bight, is the codename used to describe the tracking and eventual seizure of up to €750 million of cocaine

Cocaine

Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...

off the Irish

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

coast in November 2008, originally thought to have been the largest such haul in the history of Ireland and one of the largest in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

in 2008. The figures were later revised to show that this was in fact the second largest haul in Irish history. The seizure took place off the south-west coast and eclipsed the discovery of €440 million of cocaine near Mizen Head

Mizen Head

Mizen Head , is located at the extremity of a peninsula in the district of Carbery in County Cork, Ireland. It is one of the extreme points of the island of Ireland and is a major tourist attraction, noted for its dramatic cliff scenery...

in July 2007. A 60 feet (18.3 m) yacht

Yacht

A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...

containing more than seventy bales of the substance was seized by a team of European anti-drugs agencies led by the Irish authority forces. Three men were also apprehended and later each was sentenced to ten years in jail.

The seizure came just one day after the fourth man involved in Ireland's previous record haul in 2007 was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. 1.5 tonne of cocaine valued at €440 million washed up on the Cork coast near Mizen Head

Mizen Head

following an attempted trafficking scam that failed when one of the men filled their petrol-powered motor engine with diesel. The inflatable launch overturned and dumped sixty-two bales of cocaine into the sea. Three of the men involved in the operation were sentenced earlier in 2008 for a total of eighty-five years.

Etymology

Operation Seabight received its name from the Porcupine Seabight

Porcupine Seabight

The Porcupine Seabight is a deep-water basin in the Porcupine Bank in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. It lies southwest of Ireland and is approximately 180 nautical miles by 100 nautical miles . The feature is shaped roughly like an amphitheatre with the deepest point lying to the southwest...

, Porcupine Bank

Porcupine Bank

Porcupine Bank is an area of the Irish shelf approximately west of Ireland. The relatively raised area of seabed lies between the deep-water Porcupine Seabight and Rockall Trough....

near international fishing grounds where the seizure took place.

Background

The seizure was masterminded by the Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

-based anti-trafficking body, Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre – Narcotics

Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre

The Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre , based in Lisbon, is an international agency set up to coordinate anti-drug trafficking action by several European Union states with financial support from the Prevention against Crime Programme of the European Union, European Commission – Directorate...

(MAOC-N), which is staffed by law enforcement personnel from the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

and Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. The centre targets airplanes and sea vessels, such as private ships, cruisers and yachts, mainly from South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

and West Africa

West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...

. The operation has previously identified smuggling routes which use West Africa as a staging post for illegal substances before shipping them to Europe.

A 60 feet (18.3 m) yacht containing seventy bales of the substance was seized by a team of European anti-drugs agencies led by the Irish. The yacht, named Dances with Waves, had set sail from Trinidad

Trinidad

Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...

more than a month earlier. MAOC-N tracked it across the Atlantic Ocean before the naval vessel LÉ Niamh
LÉ Niamh (P52)
LÉ Niamh is a in the Irish Naval Service. It is the youngest ship in service in the Irish fleet, and is named after Niamh, queen of Tír na nÓg, from Irish mythology.-History:...

moved in around 150 nmi (277.8 km; 172.6 mi) off the coast of West Cork

West Cork

West Cork refers to a geographical area in south-west Ireland, lying within Ireland's largest county, County Cork. Traditionally a popular tourist destination, the area is seen as being distinct from the more populated northern or eastern parts of the county, as well as the more urban area of...

at around 11:00 UTC on 6 November 2008.

The yacht, registered in Britain until July and then de-registered, was escorted into Castletownbere

Castletownbere

Castletownbere is a small town in County Cork in Ireland. It is located on the southwest coast of Ireland, in West Cork, on Berehaven harbour near the entrance to Bantry Bay. It is also known as Castletown Berehaven. The name of the town comes from the no longer extant MacCarty Castle, and not...

Harbour in West Cork by the LÉ Róisín
LÉ Róisín (P51)
LÉ Róisín is the lead ship of her class of offshore patrol vessel in the Irish Naval Service.-History:Róisín was built by Appledore Shipbuilders in Devon, entered service with the Irish Naval Service in September 1999 and is based at the Haulbowline Island, Cork Harbour Headquarters and...

early on 7 November 2008. Gardaí

Garda Síochána

, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...

(the Irish police) removed the 70 bales of cocaine from the vessel and garda

Garda Síochána

technical experts examined it. The haul was taken to local garda stations and later removed to the Department of Justice Forensic Science Laboratory at Garda Headquarters.

It later emerged that the yacht was on the verge of capsizing when naval officers swooped on the vessel, with the seventy bales almost being washed into the sea. Authorities were forced to board the ship in "horrendous weather conditions" to prevent a potential loss of evidence as 7 metres (23 ft) swells swirled in the background. The yacht was seized in the midst of a force seven

Beaufort scale

The Beaufort Scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort Wind Force Scale.-History:...

gale which delayed its onshore arrival by seven hours.

The LÉ Orla was deployed to search for bales of the drug while monitoring shipping to ensure they didn't recover any of the haul from the sea

Substance

Initial tests indicate the cocaine seized is 80% pure, 5% more potent than the €440 million Dunlough Bay haul of 2007. According to one source, the average purity of Irish street cocaine is (presumably currently) just 10%,
although an older source (data for 1999) states that cocaine purity across Europe is typically 55% to 70%, with Ireland being exceptionally low at 41%.
Street prices for cocaine in both the US and Europe have dropped consistently over the last twenty years, indicating supply in this period has outstripped demand.

Convicts

Three male British

United Kingdom

nationals, initially reported to be aged between 44 and 52, were detained and questioned by gardaí

Garda Síochána

in two separate garda stations in Bantry

Bantry

Bantry is a town on the coast of County Cork, Ireland. It lies on the N71 national secondary road at the head of Bantry Bay, a deep-water gulf extending for 30 km to the west...

and Bandon

Bandon, County Cork

Bandon is a town in County Cork, Ireland. With a population of 5,822 as of census 2006, Bandon lies on the River Bandon between two hills. The name in Irish means "Bridge of the Bandon", a reference to the origin of the town as a crossing-point on the river. In 2004 Bandon celebrated its...

, County Cork

County Cork

County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...

. The men were taken ashore at the small fishing port of Castletownbere

Castletownbere

. The three, later named as 49 year-old Philip Doo and 40 year-old David Mufford (both from Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

) and 42 year-old Christopher Wiggins (with an address on Spain's Costa del Sol

Costa del Sol

The Costa del Sol is a region in the south of Spain, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, comprising the coastal towns and communities along the Mediterranean coastline of the Málaga province. The Costa del Sol is situated between two lesser known costas: Costa de la Luz and Costa Tropical...

), appeared before a special sitting of the District Court

District Court (Ireland)

The District Court is the main court of summary jurisdiction in Ireland. It has responsibility for hearing minor criminal matters, small civil claims, liquor licensing, and certain family law applications...

in Clonakilty

Clonakilty

Clonakilty , often referred to by locals simply as Clon, is a small town on the N71 national secondary road in West County Cork, Ireland, approximately 45 minutes away by road to the west of Cork City. The town is on the southern coast of the island, and is surrounded by hilly country devoted...

, County Cork

County Cork

on 8 November 2008. They were charged with possession of cocaine knowing the drug was to be imported into a country other than Ireland. No application for bail was made and the men were remanded in custody to appear in Kinsale

Kinsale

Kinsale is a town in County Cork, Ireland. Located some 25 km south of Cork City on the coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon and has a population of 2,257 which increases substantially during the summer months when the tourist season is at its peak and...

court again on 13 November 2008.

The damaged yacht, believed bound for Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, remains in Castletownbere

Castletownbere

. Searches of its logs, charts and navigation computers continue to find evidence that would prove its link to Spanish-based British drugs gang members. The bulk of the cocaine consignment was due for European markets. The Daily Star reported that "the drugs were almost certainly destined for British dealers to sell in pubs and clubs ahead of the Christmas party season."

The three men were each sentenced to ten years in jail on 8 May 2009.

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