AN Irish national has been arrested after Portuguese cops and military swooped on a yacht carrying more than 1.5 tonnes of cocaine.
Two Danish men were also arrested after 1,660 kilos of the drug with a potential street value of around €110 million were discovered on the 11-metre vessel.
All three are languishing in Ponta Delgada’s Sao Miguel Prison, in the Azores, after being remanded behind bars by a judge following their first court appearance on Friday.
Portuguese police also confirmed that their Spanish counterparts had held the suspected leader of the criminal gang in a “parallel” operation thought to have taken place on the Costa del Sol.
A Taser gun and €63,000 in cash were seized following the arrest.
The man’s nationality has not been officially revealed but he is believed to be Danish.
The operation that led to the high-seas cocaine bust was codenamed Operation Vikings.
In an official statement, a spokesman for Portugal’s Policia Judiciaria (PJ) police force described the three men held off the Azores as “foreigners”, but a well-placed source confirmed they included an Irish national.
The PJ also said Irish authorities had assisted them.
In the lengthy statement, the Portuguese police force said: “With the support of the Portuguese Navy, we launched an operation to combat international drug trafficking by sea.
“A sailing boat around 11 metres long was intercepted off the western group of the Azores archipelago as it crossed the Atlantic Ocean between South America and Europe with around 1,660 kg of cocaine on board.
“Operation Vikings is the result of a complex investigation that has taken place over the last two years, aimed at dismantling an international criminal organisation with transcontinental operations specialising in bringing large quantities of cocaine to the European continent and using our country as a platform to this end.
“Due to poor safety and seaworthiness conditions the three crew members of the sailboat, who have since been arrested by the PJ, were taken along with the narcotics to a ship belonging to the Portuguese Navy which deployed a wide range of resources involving more than 50 military personnel.”
An Irish national was arrested after cocaine worth €110 million was found on a yacht[/caption]
