In this episode, Detective Superintendent Joe O’Reilly of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau takes us behind the MV Matthew operation. The previous Garda Podcast episode - EP 26, outlines the timeline of the MV Matthew interdiction and subsequent conviction of eight men.
Background:
On September 23 2023, a Panama flagged cargo ship called the MV Mathew entered Irish territorial waters, having set off from Curacao, an island off the coast of Venezuela.
Unbeknownst to its crew, suspicions about the ship’s activities had been communicated by international intelligence agencies to An Garda Síochána’s Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.
The ship was being monitored, with the belief that its cargo may contain illegal drugs.
On September 22nd, the day before the MV Matthew entered Irish waters, two men, bought a fishing trawler called the FV Castlemore in West Cork.
The activities of the crews on board both vessels would result in a dramatic joint task force operation carried out at sea in gale force winds and would lead to the largest drug seizure in the history of the State.
The seizure of devices and the interception of messages between both sea fairing crews and their criminal gang members on land, led to the conviction and sentencing of eight men – six from the MV Matthew and two from the Castlemore trawler.