Irish authorities seized more than 2.2 tonnes of cocaine and later convicted eight men in a high-profile operation that exposed both a sophisticated cartel supply chain and gaps in Europe’s ability to intercept drugs at sea, BBC Panorama reported.
The shipment, carried aboard the Panama-registered MV Matthew, was bought by organised crime groups in August 2023 and was due to be transferred at sea to a smaller trawler, the Castlemore, in late September. Irish naval and police forces tracked both vessels, intervened in a stormy rendezvous, and ultimately boarded the Matthew using members of the Army Ranger Wing. The drugs were destroyed and the eight men were convicted and sentenced to a combined total of 129 years in prison, Panorama said.
The case illustrated a wider problem identified by European law enforcement: record quantities of cocaine are being produced in South America and many vessels suspected of carrying drugs cannot be intercepted because authorities lack the assets. The Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre (MAOC), which monitors transatlantic trafficking, told Panorama that about 100 ships thought to be trafficking drugs were not stopped last year because there were not enough vessels to intercept them. MAOC director Sjoerd Top said up to 600 vessels are monitored each day.
The UK's National Crime Agency reported that UK users consumed about 117 tonnes of cocaine last year, and officials say cocaine-related deaths have risen sharply over the past decade. Authorities described a move away from concealment within containers at busy ports such as Rotterdam and Antwerp toward at-sea "mother and daughter" transfers, in which cargo ships offload bales to smaller boats that attempt to bring the drugs ashore.
Panorama said the MV Matthew was bought for around £10m and that a group believed by police to be linked to the Kinahan organised crime group organised the operation from Dubai. In mid-September, three men travelled to buy the fishing trawler Castlemore in Castletownbere in south-west Ireland. Ukrainian fisherman Vitaliy Lapa and Jamie Harbron, from Stockton-on-Tees, took the trawler to sea on Sept. 22, not knowing police had fitted it with a tracker. A Scottish man who left for Dubai after overseeing a €300,000 payment has been identified by Panorama as Stefan Boyd; Panorama reported it had been unable to contact him.
The rendezvous went wrong in worsening weather. The Castlemore developed engine problems and later ran aground on a sandbank, forcing its crew to call the Irish Coast Guard and be winched to safety. The Matthew’s original skipper, Soheil Jelveh, was later airlifted to hospital after claiming to be injured; police discovered more than $50,000 in his possession and arrested him after he tried to flee the hospital, Panorama said.
A replacement skipper on the Matthew received voice messages from organisers in Dubai urging the crew to "hold their nerve." Irish naval commanders ordered the Matthew to redirect to Cork Harbour. Authorities fired warning shots — the first time that measure had been used since the 1980s — and Army Rangers descended from a helicopter onto the deck to secure the ship. Panorama recorded exchanges in which crew members pleaded not to be fired upon and said they were "panicking, crying." The 2.2 tonnes of cocaine had an estimated value of more than €157m.
The operation exposed limitations in Ireland’s maritime defence capacity. Ireland has nearly 2,000 miles of coastline and jurisdiction over an extensive maritime area, yet defence spending is the lowest in the European Union at about 0.2% of gross domestic product, Panorama reported. The Irish Naval Service has eight ships but typically has only two at sea because of staffing shortages. Air support can be limited when helicopters are undergoing maintenance; in the Matthew case, officials said the only airworthy helicopter was re-tasked from ambulance duties and had to be stripped of medical equipment before it could be used for the boarding.
Former Irish naval commander Eugene Ryan told Panorama that traffickers are likely to continue testing defences: "If they send 20 tonnes of cocaine on a number of vessels and some get caught, they'll still get 12–15 tonnes in." Former Irish Army commandant Cathal Berry described Ireland’s territorial waters as a "free-for-all," and Charlie Eastaugh, UK Border Force maritime director, said there have been multiple one- and two-tonne seizures at sea in recent months. MAOC’s Sjoerd Top told Panorama that despite intelligence on suspect vessels, interception is not always possible because of a lack of assets.
The Irish government said it maintains "a continuous presence and vigilance" at sea and pointed to planned defence funding increases, including €600m over four years — a 55% rise — and initiatives intended to stabilise the Naval Service. Justice and security officials across Europe, and the agencies tasked with policing maritime trafficking, say cooperation and resources will be crucial if they are to prevent shipments from reaching shores where they can be distributed.
Panorama said Irish police uncovered four further attempts to traffic large quantities of cocaine to the UK since the Matthew seizure. Law enforcement officials emphasised that while major busts demonstrate capability, the sheer scale of production and the multiplicity of maritime routes mean that sustained investment in ships, aircraft, personnel and international intelligence sharing will be required to stem the flow.
The Matthew case underscores how a single interception can illuminate the broader challenges facing European authorities: sophisticated logistics run by well-financed criminal networks, shifting tactics to exploit less-monitored waters, and a persistent shortfall of the vessels and aircraft needed to act on timely intelligence.