THE GOVERNMENT has given the go-ahead for Irish involvement in a new European centre to tackle the growing problem of cocaine shipments coming into Europe from Central and South America.
At its weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday, the Government authorised Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern to provide resources for the common approach to stop cocaine shipments. Ireland has linked up with the UK, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal and Italy as a member of the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre (Narcotics) which is based in Lisbon.
A senior garda and a key Customs official will be seconded to the centre. The centre is designed as an international taskforce to collect and analyse information on drug trafficking, enhance intelligence exchange and identify the availability of naval and other assets to facilitate national drug interdiction operations.
The centre focuses on stopping large maritime and aviation cocaine shipments into Europe from, in particular, Central and South America. It will maximise the participating countries effectiveness through pooling resources and enhanced intelligence sharing which will in turn enhance interception.
“The supply of cocaine in Irish society has increased enormously in recent years,” Mr Ahern said. “This centre will make the EU a much more hostile place for cocaine traffickers to operate.”