Gardaí are looking for at least two men believed to be at large following the seizure of a record €105 million worth of cocaine off the Co Cork coast yesterday.
The men, in their forties, were seen escaping across fields in the Dun Lough Bay area yesterday as Customs officials and gardaí recovered packages of cocaine from the water. The drugs were found after a dinghy capsized yesterday.
A Garda spokesman told ireland.comthey were looking for "at least two men".
Gardaí today also found a second dinghy that was believed to have been used by a drug-trafficking gang attempting to import the drugs into Ireland.
The first dinghy, which capsized in rough seas, was brought up early this morning.
Up to 1,500 kilograms of cocaine in 60 sealed packages were recovered from the sea off the coast of Mizen Head yesterday by rescuers looking for this boat's crew.
A spokesman for the Revenue Commissioners said it was believed most of the consignment, thought to be worth at least €105 million, has been recovered. It is believed to be the biggest drugs haul in the State's history.
The search for more drugs resumed this morning, with a Revenue cutter searching the area since 5am. The crew located one more bale of cocaine, believed to be worth up to €2 million, close to a cliff earlier today. It has since been recovered from the water.
Naval divers are also searching the area. The spokesman said the weather was beginning to turn against the searchers and that the operation may have to be suspended.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told the Dáil today the seizure was evidence of "the growing threat" of increased drug smuggling into Europe.
However, he agreed with Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte that yesterday's haul was an "accidental confiscation" and Customs had not been acting on intelligence that a shipment was being unloaded in Dun Lough Bay. Mr Ahern said the bad weather was the only reason the drugs were intercepted.
Mr Ahern called on people living in coastal communities to be vigilant and assist the Garda and Customs in tackling drug smuggling.
"It is too early to draw conclusions about the source of the drugs or their intended destination but that will come out in the investigations," he said. "It is clear from the events of yesterday that remote inlets are also clearly a target for smugglers."
An English man in his 20s is in custody in Bantry Garda Station, Co Cork, after being arrested yesterday. He can be held for up to seven days under anti-drugs legislation.
He went out to sea with another man in the small inflatable dinghy early yesterday morning. After the boat capsized in heavy swells, one man managed to swim to shore and raise the alarm at around 8am.
The second man, now being treated for hypothermia in Bantry General Hospital, was rescued a short time later.
A search for more suspects and the "mother vessel", believed to have been carrying the original consignment, is ongoing.
Gardaí believe the drugs originated in the Caribbean and that a vehicle was waiting on the shore to pick up the consignment.
The drugs were wrapped in white waterproof bales said to be three feet by two feet in size. Residents reported seeing dozens of them bobbing in the sea off Dun Lough Bay about a mile off shore.
Two of them were taken out of the sea by helicopter, and lifeboat crews and customs officials recovered more. They were immediately sent for forensic examination.
The west Cork coastline has been regarded as a notorious drug trafficking route over the past two decades. In 1996, a yacht, the Sea Mist, was discovered off the coast carrying 599 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of €42 million.
Last year some €100 million worth of drugs were seized within the State.