An Assistant Garda Commissioner has told a drugs trial in England he believes that more than 1.5 tonnes of cocaine seized off the Cork coast four years ago was destined for distribution in Britain.
John Alan Brooks, 60, from Blackpool in England, is on trial in Birmingham charged in connection with the seizure of the drugs.
Asst Commissioner Tony Quilter this morning told the jury the Irish market for cocaine could not sustain a shipment on this scale.
On November 6 2008, in a joint operation involving the Navy, gardaí and Customs, a Naval Service boarding party from the LE Niamh detained a 65-foot yacht, Dances with Waves, 240km off the Cork coast.
The yacht had been tracked by satellite on its journey from the Caribbean. It was carrying 75 bales of cocaine, weighing just over 1.5 tonnes.
The three crew members on board the yacht were arrested and charged with possession of the drugs.
They were each jailed for ten years in May 2009.
Analysis of the cocaine found that it was 70% pure, giving it a street value of €400m, making it the second biggest seizure in the history of the State.
Separately, gardaí had established a joint investigation with the Serious Organised Crime Agency based in London, to track down those behind the shipment.
That investigation led to the arrest last November of Mr Brooks.
He is now on trial at Birmingham Crown Court, charged with conspiracy to import the drugs into the United Kingdom.
The prosecution alleges that Mr Brooks was the facilitator who negotiated the purchase of the yacht, Dances with Waves, and was in charge of ensuring that the drugs were delivered from the Caribbean to the UK.
Three Irish witnesses are central to the prosecution's case against Mr Brooks.
Retired Naval Service Commander Eugene Ryan, called as an expert witness on navigation, told the trial that the drugs were due to be offloaded from the yacht near the Welsh coast, inside UK territorial waters.
Detective Sergeant Fergal Foley from west Cork, who shared responsibility for the joint investigation, said no evidence of a shore party was found in Ireland, and there was no mobile phone traffic from the Irish coast to the yacht.
The prosecution has now concluded its case and the defence will begin in the morning.
The charge carries a maximum sentence on life in prison.
