‘Torpedo’ loaded with £4.5m of cocaine washes up on beach

A ‘torpedo’ loaded with more the £4.5 million worth of cocaine and wrapped in Playboy packages has been washed up on a beach in Ireland.

The 6ft metal tube contained small bales of cocaine, weighing about 1kg each, wrapped in plastic packages with the Playboy emblem.

The 75kg of drugs, worth 5 million euro (£4.5 million), is believed to have been attached below the waterline of a cargo ship or a similar vessel.

Revenue customs officers responded to a report from a member of the public about the suspicious device, off the Cliffs of Moher in County Claire.

Customs chiefs said officers were tipped off to a suspicious item on the shore near Liscannor in Co Clare, not far from the tourist hotspot of the Cliffs of Moher and other renowned surfing spots. Customs chiefs said officers were tipped off to a suspicious item on the shore near Liscannor in Co Clare, not far from the tourist hotspot of the Cliffs of Moher and other renowned surfing spots. Customs chiefs said officers were tipped off to a suspicious item on the shore near Liscannor in Co Clare, not far from the tourist hotspot of the Cliffs of Moher and other renowned surfing spots. See PA story IRISH Cocaine.

‘It is not possible at this stage to say either where the drugs originated or their intended destination,’ he added.

Officials said the alarm was raised thanks to the customs drugs watch programme, which urges people living in coastal communities, maritime personnel and people living near airfields to report unusual or suspicious activities.

The investigation continues.