Travel, risk and corruption pushes up the price of cocaine by 46 times between production in South America and when it reaches Ireland’s drug dealers.
As the European global demand for coke soars, overall drug seizures have reached record levels in Ireland – with over €51million worth nabbed by the gardai so far this year.
But the potential rewards for drug barons such as Daniel Kinahan outweigh the risk.
Read More: Kinahan cartel carried out 'at least 20' murders across Europe
Today we unveil the scale of the profits available to traffickers moving cocaine into Ireland.
The drug starts off at around €1,500 per kilo before increasing in value at each stop along the way until it eventually costs €70,000 per kilo here.
Most recent UN figures show exactly how much is added on in each country between producer nations such as Bolivia, Peru and Colombia until it reaches the US or Europe.
The UN prices a kilo of coke in Bolivia – one of the biggest producers – at €1,500. By the time it crosses the border into Colombia and makes its way to the border with Panama, it is worth €2,500.
Crossing the frontier and moving into Costa Rica, its value now doubles to €5,000.
If it is trafficked up through Central America until it reaches Guatemala, it will now cost €8,000 and then €10,000 in Mexico itself.
By the time that cocaine reaches the US, it’s worth almost €26,000.
However, drugs destined for Europe mostly travel by sea.
Former assistant Garda Commissioner Michael O’Sullivan headed the Maritime Analysis and Operation Centre – the international agency which coordinates European anti-drug ops – until late last year.
He explained how major gangs who sell in the EU would use a “middle man” to organise a huge shipment, insisting money be paid up and they could be told they have to buy a minimum of 50kg of cocaine.
But it then has to travel on huge shipments and stay out of law enforcement’s radar. He told the Irish Mirror: “It moves by maritime vessels. Now there’s two ways, one by vessel and two by container. Containers heading into Antwerp and Rotterdam.
“The other preferred option is to get a mothership and leave it on the high seas and the daughtership goes out to meet it.
“There are huge profits. But it’s very costly. Transportation is costly and there’s huge risk involved. You’re paying for
a vessel, you’re paying for people to keep their mouth shut and then you’re paying for it to be moved again.”
Once at the ports in Antwerp in Belgium or Rotterdam in Holland, workers have to be paid off for the drugs for it to be moved to other European countries in containers.
O’Sullivan said: “You get that stuff to port and you have to get that stuff offloaded, distributed and transported from A to B and all a risky business and needless to say no insurance policy. It’s very expensive, it’s risky, you need to trust people and there’s a big risk factor with law enforcement getting their act together.”
The reward sees Irish gangs pocket €70,000 a kilo.
But the risk is losing it all with no insurance policy – and that is being felt by more drug gangs than ever with seizures at record highs.
Under O’Sullivan’s leadership last year, MAOC intercepted €4billion worth of drugs, up from €1.8billion the year before. A recent UN report on the cocaine market, 70% of seizures are happening in oceans, seas and ports.
But the demand continues to soar.
O’Sullivan said: “The market in Europe is estimated to be €10billion for cocaine alone, but I’d put it at €13billion to €14billion currently. It’s recognised not just in Ireland, it’s not just an Irish or European problem, it’s a global problem. During the recession, punters hadn’t got the money. The dealers, the importers hadn’t got money – the money wasn’t there.
“Seizures were down and it just wasn’t moving. But in Ireland now, people are spending a lot of money to get cocaine.”
The Kinahan cartel was involved in a €35million shipment of cocaine disguised as charcoal which gardai seized last year. It was the first time such a method has been used to get product to the Irish market.
The cocaine was mixed with chemicals – including odour blockers to evade sniffer dogs – and a black substance before being moulded to look like charcoal.
It was left in a container in Rotterdam but never collected before it was handed over to gardai as the find came off the back of their intelligence.
In recent months, liquid cocaine was found in champagne bottles while a plane was driven into the Midlands here with more €8million worth of cocaine on board.
While criminals are coming up with more methods than ever to evade gardai and law enforcement, they are being met every step of the way.
And it’s the cooperation between agencies throughout the world that is seeing this success, with Garda Liaison Officers now working in Columbia, Washington and the UAE among other countries.
O’Sullivan said: “You have very good engagement between police forces.
“You have the Drugs Enforcement Agency who are really the prime movers of the whole drugs enforcement field, they have contacts everywhere.
“We worked very closely with them, it’s about intelligence sharing and very close cooperation between police forces.
“And MAOC is a fusion centre. There is excellent work being done by the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau who are punching way above their weight. And they’ve had some great successes.”
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