Packages containing foil blankets found on Cork coast spark Garda operation
6 Linehan Red Were Between The The Packages Said Strand The Weekend By Washed And On Being (pictured), Including Coast October Warren Small Walkers Over Strand And 5 And Of Sources Beaches Picture: Found Long Along File Up Clonakilty, That Rosscarbery Dan Known Well
Mysterious packages found on West Cork’s coastline sparked a garda operation to establish if they contained illegal drugs, but they turned out to be foil blankets used to prevent hypothermia.
A garda search dog was brought in after members of the public contacted gardaí about the packages. However, after the packages were opened by gardaí, they were found to contain foil blankets thought to have fallen from a passing boat.
Sources said that small packages were washed up along the coast between Rosscarbery and Clonakilty, being found by walkers on well-known beaches including Long Strand, Red Strand and the Warren over the weekend of October 5 and 6.
Garda sources said that a number of people contacted gardaí after coming across the packages, in case they contained drugs.
There have been several cases in the past three decades where packages of drugs have been found along Ireland’s coastline.
For example, 150kgs of cannabis resin was found buried in sand on the Warren beach in Rosscarbery after a yacht called the Happy Girl was seen in an unusual anchorage in the area, in 1993.
In 1995, 300kg of cannabis resin was trawled from the seabed off Wexford.
In October 2016, some 75kg of cocaine was found in a device shaped like a torpedo on a beach near Liscannor in Clare. It was suspected that the device had been attached to a vessel before washing up on the beach at Kilmacreehy.
In July 2023, a vessel was impounded in Donegal as part of an operation into the discovery of packages of suspected cocaine along the north Donegal coastline. One package was found at Ballyhiernan Beach in Fanad, while a similar package was found at Tramore Beach.
The discovery of large bales of cocaine in the waters of Dunlough Bay in 2007 inspired the 2016 movie in which characters Jock and Conor cycled to West Cork in the hope of finding a missing bale of cocaine.
A garda spokesman said that officers have ruled out any suspicious element to the packages and efforts are now being made to establish where they originated in a bid to return them to their owner.
It has not been possible to determine when or where the items fell into the water before washing onto the coastline.
The garda spokesman said it is a reminder to people on Ireland’s coastline to be on the alert and vigilant for anything unusual on the coast, particularly in the light of past drug seizures. He also said that gardaí welcomed the contact from the public who came across the packages.
Gardaí are joined with the Navy and Revenue in the multi-agency Coastal Watch initiative, which invites vigilance from the public about suspicious items or movements of people or vehicles in coastal areas.