70-year-old sailor skippers £100m cocaine yacht + Video
by UTV on 15 Oct 2014
Makayabella being held in Haulbowline naval base, Cork PA
The 60ft yacht Makayabella was stormed by elite members of the Irish Navy some 200 nautical miles off Mizen Head - Ireland's most southerly point - in the early hours of Tuesday, September 23rd.
Five men, including the three onboard the yacht and another two in England, have been arrested and police are hunting for a sixth man in connection with the seizure.
All six men are from the West Yorkshire area.
The yacht was tracked across the Atlantic by authorities in several countries as it left Venezuela, stopping off in Trinidad, before it was boarded by Irish officials off the south coast.
It's thought the illicit shipment was destined to land somewhere in north Wales before heading to the north of England.
Under armed guard on Thursday, the one tonne haul was offloaded from the yacht onto the docks at Haulbowline naval base in Cork harbour, where it was towed to the previous night.
The seizure, one of the biggest on the seas this year, was so large the suspects were forced to use bales of cocaine as makeshift furniture for the weeks-long voyage.
John O'Mahony, assistant commissioner of An Garda Síochána, said the interception would deliver a serious blow to drugs cartels operating right across the world.
Test have confirmed the drugs to be cocaine, however, further analysis is to be done to determine the purity of the consignment to confirm its street value.
Police in England have already said the cocaine is worth more than £100m.
Details of the naval operation were kept secret for more than a day-and-a-half.
During the tense late night sea raid, two Navy teams set off from a major coastal patrol vessel the LE Niamh on smaller inflatable boats, armed with pistols and batons.
They surrounded and illuminated the charter yacht, making sure the consignment was not dumped overboard.
Captain David Barry of the Irish Navy described the daring raid, he said: 'It was a particularly dark night.
'We believe they had no idea we were there until we were actually on board.'
The crew were said to be in reasonably good condition for being at sea for so long and put up no resistance and no firearms were found.
The matter is currently before the
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