Vast coastline leaves Donegal 'isolated and exposed' to major drug traffickers

With hundreds of beaches and coves, Donegal has been left exposed to major drug shipments by international crime gangs.

In the last four years, over €9million worth of illegal narcotics have been seized in Donegal.

Coastal Watch Donegal - a multi-agency initiative involving An Garda Síochána, the Irish Naval Service and Revenue’s Customs Service - was relaunched in Killybegs this week.

The inter-agency strategy is aimed at preventing and detecting the importation of illegal drugs by promoting the importance of vigilance among those living in coastal areas.

The drugs trade is rife across the county.

In July 2023, packages containing 60kgs of cocaine, with an estimated street value of up to €4million, were found washed up on beaches in Fanad and Dunfanaghy.

In 2021, €2.8million worth of cocaine was located in a van near Kilmacrennan and the same year €105,000 of cocaine was found during a search of a car at a checkpoint in Lifford.

Earlier this year, officers swooped on a commercial premises in Ballybofey and found €2.2million worth of cannabis in tractor tyres.

Andrew Ryan, Revenu’s Maritime Operations Manager told the Coastal Watch launch how the traffickers make use of deceptive shopping practices. These include complex ownership and management structures, intended to mask the intent of the organisation that owns the vessel.

“These vessels will drop off sometimes without altering course,” he said. “We have seen resilience within smuggling events in that they can pause or drop off at a new location.”

Revenue and Customs Principal Officer Cormac Gilhooley of the East West Frontier Management Branch said the 2023 finds on the remote Donegal beaches represented: “Proof that these imports can happen anywhere along the coast.”

Donegal Chief Superintendent Goretti Sheridan says that Donegal’s remoteness makes it an exposed location.

Donegal has several islands off its coast, including Tory and Arranmore, while the county has only 11km of a border with the Republic of Ireland. Its surrounds include 1,134km of coastline and a 181km border to Northern Ireland. Some 62% of Donegal’s population are located in just 2.4% of the county’s land.

“We are fairly isolated and exposed,” Chief Superintendent Sheridan said. “We have Killybegs, the country’s largest fishing port, and Greencastle, which is another international port. 

“Joint multi-agency investigations are ongoing on a regular basis in Donegal.”

She said that Coastal Watch would be like a neighbourhood watch for the sea and the community can act as the “eyes and ears” for the authorities.

Chief Superintendent Sheridan said: “Most guards in the county are within a short distance to a beach of sorts. Everybody will have knowledge of Coastal Watch and what it's about.”

Tom Talbot, the Head of Investigations, Prosecutions and Frontier Management Division of Revenue’s Customs Service, said the sheer volume and sheer length of coastline in Donegal, the number of beaches, bays and inlets meant that it could be “so easy to drop off”.

However, he said that drug traffickers now don’t even have to arrive at land with major shipments. 

“You now can have small vessels leaving to meet motherships so the smallest of vessels only have to go out, literally only a couple of nautical miles to pick up and bring it in,” he said. “So, we really, really just need to be vigilant across all the coastline.”

Members of An Garda Síochána at the relaunch of Coastal Watch Donegal. Photo: Matthew Harvey

Detective Inspector Shane McCartan of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau pointed to the significant seizures in Donegal in recent years.

“We want to make Ireland a safe place to live and a hostile environment for transnational criminals,” he said. 

Detective Inspector McCartan said that most cocaine coming into Europe is transported by sea, mainly from counties like Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador in South America.

He said: “In reality, all they need is a brach to lane a tonne of cocaine. 

“Organised criminal gangs have immense capability, unlimited resources and a global outreach. They are a global network. We need to have a network of people combating drug trafficking.”

Tom Talbot at the launch. Photo: Matthew Harvey 

An Garda Síochána Coastal Watch Liaison Officer in Donegal, Inspector Paul McGee, said: "Because of Ireland's geography, drug smuggling along our coastline is something that we are cognisant of 24/7, 365 days of the year. 

“It requires a multi-agency response through Coastal Watch to keep at bay, and central to that is the public's awareness and how important it is to inform us of any unusual sightings and suspicious activity. It makes an enormous difference to our ability to target the criminals and organised crime groups intent on profiting from the misery that illegal drugs cause to ordinary people's lives in Ireland."

Other organisations and agencies based in Donegal who were present included: Sea Fishery Protection Agency, Civil Defence, Irish Coast Guard, Irish Farmers Association, RNLI and Diving Ireland and Donegal Harbour Masters.

Assistant Garda Commissioner Cliona Richardson outlined the importance of public engagement.

She said: “Farmers are out working, fishermen are out. So all these people are actually out and about and they may see something that they just think doesn't sit right with them. 

Read next: Authorities aim to make Donegal 'a no-go zone' for major drug traffickers

“It might be somebody out a bit late, somebody who hasn't got good skills in relation to using a boat or who are renting B&Bs or staying in hotels; just something there that doesn't really fit.

“It may not be nothing, but it could be that something and it could be that one little nugget that we need to actually progress the case and that will actually bring something really significant.”