Gardaí have been granted orders extending the detention of ten men arrested in connection with what they believe was an attempt by a criminal organisation to import a large quantity of drugs into the State off the west Cork coast yesterday morning.
All ten of the men, who range in age from their mid-20s to mid-50s, were brought before a special district court sitting in Bandon, west Cork, tonight.
The orders extending the men's detention by 72 hours were granted by Judge James McNulty.
Chief Superintendent Vincent O’Sullivan gave evidence to the court that he believed the extensions were warranted, given the complexity of the Garda investigation under way.
"This is very much a dynamic , fast moving investigation with multiple, complex lines of inquiry being followed," he said.
The men were detained yesterday in the Skibbereen area.
They are being questioned at garda stations in west and north Cork and in Cork city.
The arrests were part of an operation put in place by gardaí in west Cork with support from a number of national units, including the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.
A campervan and an articulated truck were among a number of vehicles seized by gardaí and are being forensically examined.
A high-powered RIB is also believed to have been used by the men.
A rendezvous with a larger vessel off the west Cork coast is believed to have been abandoned after the RIB was put to sea at Tragumna, an isolated beach around 10kms from Skibbereen.
No drugs have been recovered.
Most of the men were arrested in a campervan which was stopped after it was surrounded by marked and unmarked garda vehicles in the village of Leap, on the N71, 10kms east of Skibbereen.
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Some of the men were seen by passing motorists and locals, lying face down on the road in the village as gardaí searched the campervan.
The driver of the articulated truck was also arrested.
Gardaí made contact with the Naval service and with a number of international agencies in a bid to trace the vessel believed to have been carrying the drugs.
The majority are Spanish, with a number of other nationalities among them.
One is a man who had been living in the Netherlands and is of interest to international law enforcement agencies.
