Anyone finding drugs washed ashore ‘should dial 999 rather than move them’

People who find drugs packages washed ashore should call 999 and not attempt to move the item themselves, a former assistant Garda commissioner has said.

Michael O’Sullivan, who is now director of the Maritime Analysis Operations Centre, told RTÉ's Today show on Thursday it was a much wiser move to contact the authorities.

Mr O’Sullivan was commenting after a man walking on an isolated Co Donegal beach discovered what is thought to be a consignment of drugs worth more than €2 million. The discovery was made at Tramore Beach on the outskirts of the seaside village of Dunfanaghy early on Wednesday morning.

The drugs, wrapped in black plastic and bound by a rope, were found on the edge of the water at the remote beach. The walker dragged the suitcase-sized bale up the beach and then tied it to a plank of wood after fearing it would be washed out to sea again.

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The man then contacted gardaí to alert them of his find.

Mr O’Sullivan said the find was significant and was a “very costly expense” for the drug smugglers to lose that large a quantity.

All the coastline of Europe was vulnerable to drug smugglers, but there were huge logistics involved in smuggling, he said, adding there needed to be people on the ground, in warehouses and in transport planning. Success in arresting drug smugglers depended on patrols by the Naval Service and the Air Corps, he added.

Mr O’Sullivan explained the routes taken by drug smugglers depended on the cartels involved. Operations usually started with the drugs being transported on a “mother ship” – a large container ship possibly heading to Scotland or Northern Ireland.

“What normally happens is they will load the drugs on a very large vessel, [it] could be a vessel carrying cars. And at some point in the Atlantic, they will be offloaded to what they call a daughter vessel, which is a smaller vessel, possibly a fishing vessel. And that’s where it gets dangerous.”

[ Walker on isolated Co Donegal beach discovers suspected drugs worth €2m ]

He said smugglers have to drop the drugs, which can come in quarter-tonne bags, into a vessel below – often without cables amid bad weather and under pressure, “hoping they’re not discovered, and the mother ship is very anxious to get rid of it”.

“They would learn from what has happened in the past. They’ve transported in semi-submersible submarines for want of a better term. They crossed the Atlantic in 22 or 23 days. So they’ve tried all sorts and they are very nimble from the point of view of being innovative,” he said.

“But once they settle and embark on a course, that’s the course they’re going to take because there are prearranged locations and there’s logistics in place. For example, if it’s going to land in Ireland or it’s going to land in the UK, there are people ready and in place with vehicles to take that.”