THE STATE has been granted an order allowing it to sell a yacht, two inflatable boats and three four-wheel drive vehicles used by an international drugs smuggling gang who were caught trying to smuggle €440 million worth of cocaine into Ireland.
The catamaran, Lucky Day, two rigid inflatable boats (Ribs) and three Land-Rovers were seized by gardaí, Customs and the Naval Service when they foiled a plan to try and land 1.5 tonnes of cocaine at Dunlough Bay, Mizen Head, west Cork, on July 2nd, 2007.
Martin Wanden (46), Perry Wharrie (49) and Joe Daly (42) were arrested and tried at Cork Circuit Criminal Court where they were convicted by a jury of 10 men and two women following some 42 days of evidence.
Wanden, of no fixed abode, and Wharrie, Pyrles Lane, Loughton, Essex, were both jailed for 30 years, while Daly, Carrisbrook Avenue, Bexley, Kent, was sentenced to 25 years by Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin for their parts in the bungled smuggling of 1.5 tonnes of cocaine.
A fourth man, Gerard Hagan (24), Hollowcroft, Liverpool, was jailed for 10 years by Judge Ó Donnabháin last November after he pleaded guilty to possessing the drugs for sale or supply.
Meanwhile, three more men including a former detective sergeant in the London Metropolitan Police have been charged in the UK in connection with the drug operation. The latest arrest yesterday was of Michael Daly (49), an ex-Met officer, who was charged with conspiracy to possess for supply some 1,554 kilos of cocaine seized by gardaí, Customs and Navy off Dunlough Bay, Mizen Head, Co Cork on July 2nd 2007.
