A senior Garda and top customs official are to join an elite European agency fighting cocaine shipments into Ireland, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said tonight.
The officers are being seconded to the Lisbon-based Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre (MAOC) after the Irish Government signed up to the international task force.
Mr Ahern said he got he got Cabinet approval for the move, which will see Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal and Italy link up to fight drug smuggling.
The MAOC will collect and analyse information on drug trafficking and enhance intelligence exchange between countries.
It will target large sea and airborne cocaine shipments into Europe, particularly from South and Latin America.
An Irish naval officer will also be seconded, when needed, to the centre, which will house Europol and US Joint Inter-Agency Task Force observers.
PA