By Dan Walsh
Two men, who are not Irish nationals, have been arrested after their fishing trawler suspected to be carrying a large haul of cocaine ran aground on a sandbank off the Blackwater coast at around 11.30pm on Sunday night.
It is understood that the trawler was being tracked by the Irish Navy’s LÉ William Butler Yeats, reportedly carrying members of the Garda National Drugs Squad on board.
The Irish Coast Guard and Rescue 117 helicopter were also involved as were Rosslare RNLI Lifeboat who spent six hours trying to attach a tow-line in a huge swell and strong winds. The men were winched from the stricken vessel by Rescue 117 and handed over to the authorities.
Today (Monday) there was a military presence off the Wexford coast at Ballyconnigar with the football grounds at Castlebridge used as an operations location.
The Garda press office has said it is not commenting because that a live operation is ongoing now while the naval service has also not made any comment. The RNLI press office is offline tonight.
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