Eight men have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 13.5 years to 20 years for their roles in a failed attempt to smuggle 2.2 tonnes of cocaine into Ireland. The cocaine, worth over €157 million, was seized in September 2023 in what has become the largest drug seizure in Irish history.
The drugs were found on board the MV Matthew, a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship. The ship was tracked as it sailed from Curaçao, near Venezuela, across the Atlantic. It was intercepted off the coast of Ireland in a joint operation by An Garda Síochána, Revenue Customs, and the Irish Defence Forces.
On 26 September 2023, an elite team of Army Ranger Wing (ARW) soldiers fast-roped from a helicopter onto the MV Matthew after the ship ignored warnings from the Irish Navy vessel LÉ William Butler Yeats. The operation was carried out in dangerous weather conditions. The Navy had earlier
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