Sixth man arrested over major cocaine seizure at Foynes Port

GARDAí are questioning a sixth man about the seizure of €21 million worth of cocaine on a cargo vessel at Foynes Port earlier this week.

Five men - aged 50, 46, 44, 41 and 35 years - were arrested on Friday morning while the sixth, whose aged 32, was arrested on Friday evening

All six are being detained for the offence of importation of controlled drugs contrary to Section 15(b) of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

They are currently being detained at garda stations in the Limerick division.

“The search of the vessel which is being led by officials from Revenue Customs Service is ongoing, at this time,” a spokesperson said.

“Investigations ongoing,” they added.

Earlier this week, it was confirmed that 300kg of cocaine was seized onboard the Verila (pictured), which sails under the flag of Malta.

The ship, which has now been formally seized by Revenue, had travelled from Montreal Canada, having left on Saturday, December 9.