Gardaí, the Navy and Coast Guard were due to resume a search operation this morning off the west Cork coast after the recovery from the sea yesterday of the State's biggest cocaine haul.
Reliable Garda sources last night said an estimated 1,500kg of the drug had been recovered, valuing the haul at €105 million, more than the value of all illicit drugs seized in the State last year.
However, when bulked and mixed with glucose agent the street value could be double or treble the official Garda estimate.
The haul was believed to be destined for the UK and Irish markets. It was recovered from the waters of Dunlough Bay off Mizen Head after a rescue operation was launched when a man swam ashore early yesterday and reported that a small boat had capsized, tossing him and two other men into the sea. One man was later rescued, but gardaí concluded no-one else was missing.
Gardaí believe that a rigid inflatable boat capsized as its two-man crew was attempting to take more than 60 bales of cocaime from the sea and land them at Dunlough Pier early yesterday.
Gardaí alerted the UK and Spanish authorities and an international search operation was under way last night in an effort to locate the "mother vessel" used to deliver the drugs to the west Cork drop-off point.
It is believed the drugs were delivered by the "mother vessel" after dark on Sunday. Gardaí said it was likely the drugs originated in South America and had been transported via the Caribbean or West Africa through Spain.
The man who swam ashore raised the alarm at a nearby house at about 7.45am. The Castletownbere lifeboat was launched and the second man was taken from the water before being airlifted to hospital by Coast Guard helicopter at about 9.15am.
The man who raised the alarm was treated for hypothermia at Bantry General Hospital. However, he was later discharged and arrested and was still being held at Bantry garda station last night. He is a 22-year-old with an address in Co Monaghan. He is not known to gardaí and is believed to have been living in Spain and the UK recently.
The man rescued from the water was still being treated in hospital last night. It is expected he will be well enough later today to be arrested and questioned. Gardaí believe he has given them a false name and address. However, they believe he is from the UK and describe him as middle-aged.
Two other men who were seen at Dunlough Pier late on Sunday night are also believed to have been involved in the botched operation.
The Garda helicopter was drafted in from Dublin to launch a land search for the two men but neither had been located late last night. Three UK-registered sports utility vehicles were found in the area. Along with the drugs they will undergo forensic examination in Dublin today. An eight-man team of naval divers arrived in Cork last night. The LE Orla has been diverted from fisheries protection duties off the northwest coast and was expected to arrive in Cork early this morning.