An Garda Síochána and the Revenue Customs Service have relaunched the coastal watch initiative in the Galway division, which aims to detect the supply and transport of illegal drugs into Ireland.

Regular patrols of the western coastline forms a key part of the initiative, but gardaí have also sought to raise awareness of suspicious activity along the coast with farmers and landowners.

The multi-agency initiative was initially launched over 30 years ago and seeks to highlight suspicious or unusual activity that members of the community, such as farmers, may see when going about their work.

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Farmers should alert An Garda Síochána if they witness such suspicious activity.

Examples of this activity may include:

  • Packages floating in the sea, on beaches or hidden close to the shoreline.
  • Crews making landings in remote areas.
  • Unusual objects at sea or ashore, such as buoys or signalling devices.
  • Possible unauthorised landings by foreign vessels.
  • Merchant shipping at anchor close to land or islands.
  • Ships away from their normal shipping lanes.
  • Ships signalling ashore or being met by small craft.
  • Vessels operating at night without lights.

    • 500km of coastline

    Speaking at the relaunch in Clifden, Co Galway, chief superintendent Gerry Roche stated that gardaí were refocusing the coastal watch initiative with the aim of preventing Galway’s coastline of 500km from being used for the import illegal drugs.

    "Renewing coastal watch demonstrates An Garda Síochána’s ongoing commitment to fulfilling the objectives of our drug detection strategy and tackling the sale and supply of illegal drugs at local, national and international levels,” Roche said.

    "Recent seizures of large quantities of cocaine along the Irish coastline demonstrate that this initiative is more important than ever.

    "The public’s assistance in alerting gardaí to any suspicious activity along the coastline helps us to combat this illegal activity.”