EIGHT men have been jailed for a combined 129 years for their roles in trying to smuggle €157 million worth of cocaine into Ireland on the MV Matthew ship.
The sentences range from 13 and a half years to two decades.
The failed attempt to smuggle the 2.2 tonnes of cocaine into the country back in September 2023, lead to the largest cocaine seizure in Irish history.
The drugs were seized following a joint garda, customs and Defence Forces operation after army rangers forcibly boarded a cargo ship at sea.
At sentencing on Friday, Dutch national Cumali Ozgen, 49, received a sentence of 20 years, while Filipino Harold Estoesta, 31, received a sentence of 18 years.
The captain of the vessel, Iranian Soheil Jelveh, 51, received 17 and a half years in prison.
Ukrainians Vitaliy Vlasoi, 32, received a 16-and-a-half-year sentence and Mykhailo Gavryk, also 32, received 14 years imprisonment.
Saeid Hassani, 40, who was the third officer, received a 15-year sentence.
Two other men, who were on a boat that had been purchased in Castletownbere to collect drugs from the main vessel, were also sentenced for attempting to possess cocaine for sale or supply.
Ukrainian national Vitaliy Lapa, 62, with an address at Rudenka, Repina Str in Berdyansk, received a sentence of 14 and a half years.
Jamie Harbron, 31, of South Avenue, Billingham in the UK, received a sentence of 13 and a half years in prison.
