Elements of the Iranian regime and its proxies in the Hizbullah terrorist group helped finance the importation of €157 million worth of cocaine into Ireland in 2023, authorities believe.
Investigators also suspect the Kinahan organised crime group, along with several other transnational gangs contributed funding and logistical support to the operation.
The drugs were shipped to Ireland aboard the MV Matthew, a Panamanian flagged bulk carrier. Gardaí and Revenue received prior intelligence and the operation was foiled when the Naval Service intercepted the vessel off Cork.
Elite troops from the Army Ranger Ring fast-roped on to the Matthew from a helicopter before quickly taking the ship and seizing 2.2 tonnes of cocaine, the largest seizure in the State’s history.
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On Friday, eight members of the crews of the Matthew and the fishing boat Castlemore – which was due to ferry the cocaine to the mainland – received prison sentences of between 13½ and 20 years, making a combined total of 129 years, after pleading guilty in the Special Criminal Court to possession of the drugs.
The court heard of the involvement of “a major Iranian nexus in this operation”. Sources said that was a reference to criminals with links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a sprawling military unit which exerts significant influence in the country.
Gardaí and Interpol believe IRGC operatives, or those acting on its behalf, helped fund and organise the smuggling operation in co-operation with Hizbullah.
Specifically, they believe two Iranians jailed by the Special Criminal Court yesterday, Soheil Jelveh (51) and Saeid Hassani (39) are linked to Hizbullah.
[ How the MV Matthew ship and its drugs were seizedOpens in new window ]
They also believe a man from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who ran the operation from Dubai, is linked to the militant group. This man, who used the handle Captain Noah to communicate with the crew, remains in the UAE.
At a press conference regarding the case at Haubowline Naval Base in Cork on Saturday, authorities declined to go into detail on the Iran and Hizbullah links.
“Our investigations to date indicate that a number of transglobal organised crime networks would be required for an operation as significant as this. So multiple other entities and other groups are being examined,” said Assistant Garda Commissioner Angela Willis.
Gardaí will now begin to examine activity in other countries “to ascertain where the financing and the funding originated”, she said.
She indicated that the Kinahan organised crime group forms part of the investigation.
“It would be reasonable to assume that they would be one of a number of organised crime groups that would be involved in something of this nature.”
Dave Cantor, Interpol’s director of organised and emerging crime, said Irish criminals were at the “top tier” of global organised crime.
He said they have been “working tirelessly to identify linkages to other parts of the world”.
“We have been successful in identifying criminal connections ... to South America as well as to the Middle East,” he said.
However, he declined to specify the nature of those connections.
It is not the first time the Iranian regime has been suspected of involvement in international organised crime.
The US and Turkey have accused it of hiring criminal gangs to carry out assassinations overseas. Iran has strongly denied the claims.
It is also not the first time Iran has been accused of working with the Kinahans.
Earlier this year, Jack Kelly, a retired agent with the United States’ Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), told a BBC documentary that the Kinahans were hired by Iran to kill a dissident figure in the Netherlands in 2015.
Speaking about the MV Matthew operation on Saturday, Ms Willis said transnational crime groups “know no borders”.
“They prey on people’s vulnerability for their own financial gain. People are dispensable and expendable when no longer of use to the criminal organisation. Life is cheap and protecting their core criminal interest, which is money, is their key priority.”
She said people who consume illegal drugs were funding these criminals and were “directly linked to the misery and to the suffering these criminal organisations inflict on our communities.”
The MV Matthew, which has been seized by the State, remains in Cork Harbour. A potential buyer for the vessel has been identified, Revenue Commissioner Ruth Kennedy said.
However, a significant amount of regulatory work must be completed before it can be sold. The ship may be scrapped or refurbished and put back to sea, officials said.
