Why are Mexican cartels using Irish ports to smuggle drugs?

The recent violent clashes that have played out between factions of the Sinaloa cartel in the Mexican city of Culiacan have proved deadly – with at least 30 people killed.

The city is riddled with burnt-out cars and road blockages, and the army has been drafted in to protect the one million residents who live there.

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

Prolific across the country and globally, the Sinaloa cartel is one of Mexico’s most feared groups and there has been increasing evidence that it is expanding its networks in Europe and funnelling drugs through less obvious, more unsuspecting ports.

In September 2023, the coast of Cork played host to a surreal discovery. A large cargo ship was intercepted by the Irish police. Inside were colossal amounts of cocaine, worth an estimated £131 million.

The vessel originated from South America and authorities believed the drugs were destined to be distributed across both Ireland and Europe. Eight men will stand trial next year to face charges in relation to the seizure, which was the largest in Ireland’s history and a grim precursor of more to come.

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

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

Irish police estimate that each year around 90% of illicit products get into the country, and the sheer volume suggests the stock is not destined for Ireland alone.

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

Speaking to the Irish newspaper, The Herald, in 2016, former Peruvian anti-narcotics chief, Ricardo Soberon, said “without question” the notorious Kinahan Organised Crime Group is working with the Sinaloa Cartel.

“There’s been huge record-breaking drug seizures in many countries across Europe for the last number of years. And it was only a matter of time before that would arrive on our shores as well,” said Seamus Boland, a detective chief superintendent at the Garda Síochána.

“Cartels are basically attempting to continuously transport as much cocaine across the Atlantic and into Europe, even for the purpose of stockpiling as possible.”

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

“Drug trafficking groups seek to have a panoply,” said Vanda Velbab-Brown, from the Brookings Institute. “They shouldn’t rely on just one (port), because then if that one gets discovered, that of course impacts their business.”

Velbab-Brown is an expert on international organised crime and suggests that the recent spate of hauls made at Irish ports could be a sign that the Mexican cartels are collaborating with Irish organised crime groups much more intensely than before. And besides diversified trafficking routes, she suspects there could be another reason why Ireland is useful to groups such as 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 just for importation of cocaine, but also for production of amphetamines. And there has been an assumption that most of the mass is heading out from Europe to the Asia-Pacific region.”

“But in a matter of time, in my view, the cartels will need to decide whether they also want to start developing fentanyl, synthetic opioids or amphetamine markets in Europe itself. And then they of course need local actors to be the distributor.”

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

In recent months, the price of cocaine in Ireland has increased according to the police, which suggests seizures at ports are having an impact. But although authorities are positive, challenges remain.

“Ireland now can no longer hide from what’s happening globally in other countries and we are part of that global network and there’s no jurisdiction able to shield themselves from that,” said Boland.

Words by Suzanne Lowry