How Ireland became a haven for Hezbollah’s cocaine

In the end, it was a combination of the Irish weather, European maritime intelligence and engine trouble that scuppered a massive Hezbollah-cartel drugs shipment.

The Irish government’s failure to patrol the coastline has made Ireland a safe harbour for the fast-evolving drug trafficking network merging terror and narco finance.

It is a safe bet that this was not the first or the last shipment to use Ireland as a gateway to the lucrative European market

Hezbollah’s involvement in the transnational drugs trade to fund its war against Israel is well documented, with the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam its main conduit into Europe. But evidence from an Irish court last month revealing ‘a major Iranian nexus’ in a cocaine ship off Ireland’s coast indicates that Hezbollah now sees Ireland’