Gardai believe the cocaine seized in Kinsale over the weekend - with an estimated value of around £102 million - was intended for division and distribution from Ireland into Britain and the greater European market.
According to informed sources, gardai believe the cocaine was brought into Kinsale intentionally with a view to splitting it up into three or four consignments for shipment to Britain and Europe.
The investigation into the shipment of the drug is at an early stage but gardai do not believe that any of the main Irish drug barons were involved in its importation which is thought to have originated in Colombia.
Meanwhile, members of the Customs National Drugs Squad continued a search of the 50-foot catamaran, Gemeos, in Kinsale yesterday but found no further caches of cocaine.
Customs officials expect the search to continue today as the concealments found to date are highly sophisticated. The drug importers used expanding liquid foam to solidify and secure some of the caches while also giving the impression that hiding places were actually solid panels.
Meanwhile, gardai were last night continuing to question two men - a 51-year-old Dubliner and a Briton in his mid-30s at Bandon Garda Station under the Criminal Justice Drugs Trafficking Act following the discovery of the cocaine.