Why are Mexican cartels using Irish ports to smuggle drugs? – Channel 4 News

October 3, 2024

The Sinaloa Cartel is one of the most feared groups in Mexico and there is mounting evidence that it is expanding its networks in Europe, funneling drugs through less obvious, more unsuspecting ports.

The recent violent clashes between factions of the Sinaloa cartel in the Mexican city of Culiacan have proven deadly – ​​killing at least 30 people.

The city is littered with burnt-out cars and roadblocks, and the army has been called in to protect the one million residents who live there.

The unrest in the city in Sinaloa state is an ever-present reminder of the drug gang violence that continues to plague Mexico – its effects felt thousands of miles away.

Prolific across the country and worldwide, the Sinaloa Cartel is one of Mexico’s most feared groups. There is mounting evidence that it is expanding its networks in Europe, funneling drugs through less obvious, more unsuspecting ports.

In September 2023, the Cork coast played host to a surreal discovery. A large cargo ship was intercepted by Irish police. It contained huge quantities of cocaine, worth an estimated £131 million.

The ship originated from South America and authorities believed the drugs were intended for distribution across both Ireland and Europe. Next year, eight men will stand trial on charges related to the seizure, the largest in Ireland’s history and a grim harbinger of more to come.

The following December, a shipment of cocaine worth £17.53 million was found at Shannon Foynes Port in Limerick. Although modest in comparison, it was no less important. By the end of 2023, Ireland had seen record numbers of cocaine seizures from its waters (according to the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction) and the UN warned that the country was increasingly vulnerable to violence driven by competitive cocaine markets.

There was another important harvest at the beginning of this year. In February, police at Ringaskiddy Port in Cork searched a freight container and found 546kg of crystal meth, worth an estimated £27.4 million.

Irish police estimate that around 90% of illegal products enter the country each year, and the sheer volume suggests the stock is not just destined for Ireland.

They have long suspected that Mexican cartels could be behind some of the discoveries. After Ringaskiddy, police told Irish media they believed the Sinaloa Cartel had been using Ireland to route drugs across Europe for a number of years and was building a network of Irish agents. Police believe South American cartels would have problems smuggling goods across the Atlantic without significant involvement from Irish gangs.

Speaking to Irish newspaper The Herald in 2016, former Peruvian anti-narcotics chief Ricardo Soberon said that “without a doubt” the infamous Kinahan Organized Crime Group is working with the Sinaloa cartel.

“There have been huge record-breaking drug seizures in many countries in Europe in recent years. And it was only a matter of time before that happened on our shores,” said Seamus Boland, Detective Chief Inspector at the Garda Síochána.

“In fact, cartels are constantly trying to transport as much cocaine as possible across the Atlantic to Europe, even for the purpose of stockpiling.”

Ports in Ireland are attractive to cartels like Sinaloa because it is simply too risky to rely solely on major seaports like Rotterdam.

“Drug trafficking groups are trying to have an arsenal,” says Vanda Velbab-Brown of the Brookings Institute. “They shouldn’t rely on just one (port) because if it is discovered, it will obviously impact their business.”

Velbab-Brown is an expert on international organized crime and suggests that the recent spate of seizures at Irish ports could be a sign that Mexican cartels are working much more intensively with Irish organized crime groups than before. And besides the diversified smuggling routes, she suspects there may be another reason why Ireland is useful to groups like the Sinaloa.

“We know that they are starting to connect with actors in the lowland countries, in the Balkans, in Bulgaria, in Spain and Portugal. Not only for the import of cocaine, but also for the production of amphetamines. And it is believed that most of the mass is moving from Europe to the Asia-Pacific region.”

“But in my opinion, the cartels will have to decide in the foreseeable future whether they also want to develop markets for fentanyl, synthetic opioids or amphetamine in Europe. And then of course they need local actors as distributors.”

Irish criminal networks such as the Kinahans are well-known and powerful in Europe and could provide Sinaloa with excellent contacts and ties, she believes.

Police say the price of cocaine in Ireland has risen in recent months, suggesting seizures at ports are having an impact. But while authorities are positive, challenges remain.

“Ireland can now no longer hide from what is happening in other countries around the world and we are part of that global network and there is no jurisdiction that can protect itself from that,” Boland said.

Words by Suzanne Lowry