THE sale of a yacht used to transport drugs across the Atlantic but which was detected off Mizen Head last September has attracted interest from New Zealand.
The Makayabella will go under the hammer at auction tomorrow at the Carrigaline Court Hotel at 12 noon.
The yacht Makayabella. Picture: Des Barry
The sale is being handled by Cork city auctioneer Dominic Daly.
Mr Daly said: “We have had interest in this from the UK and we have had people from New Zealand showing interest. We believe there are about five or six interested parties.” He said it is very difficult to know what the sale will earn the Irish State because the vessel has no warranty, and it has been deeply rummaged during the search for drugs on board last September.
The hull of the vessel is aluminium and is in a great condition, said Mr Daly.
He added: “Everyone who has viewed it has only seen it when it is in the water.” More than a tonne of cocaine was found on board the yacht after it was boarded by Irish authorities off Mizen Head last September.
It was then towed in to the Naval Base in Haulbowline, where the cocaine was removed from the vessel. The yacht has remained in safe keeping in Haulbowline since.
The Makayabella was tracked as it crossed the Atlantic from the Caribbean by the British National Crime Agency, French, Irish and Venezuelan authorities, the UK’s National Maritime Information Centre and the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre (MAOC-N) in Lisbon.
Three British men – Jonathan Powell, Benjamin Mellor (34) and Thomas Britteon (28) – have been convicted at Cork Circuit Court after being found on board the Makayabella.
Powell was jailed for ten years, while Mellor and Britteon were given eight year sentences.
Powell’s son Stephen pleaded guilty in the UK and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. He was the mastermind of the operation.
He purchased the Makayabella for €140,000 in 2013 from her previous owners. She had been used as a charter yacht in the Caribbean.
In 2010, Mr Daly auctioned off items seized during the investigation into the seizure of 62 cocaine bales in Dunlough Bay in 2007.
The Lucky Day catamaran used to transport the bales across the Atlantic was purchased by a Donegal woman for €58,000. The bidding had opened at €20,000.
A rib, which had been purchased in South Africa for the enterprise, was badly damaged when it overturned while bringing bales to shore from the Lucky Day. It sold for €2,000.
Another rib owned by the gang involved in that cocaine haul was also sold, attracting €12,000. Two Land Rovers bought by the drugs gang in England to bring the drugs back to the UK by ferry were sold for €8,500. A third vehicle was sold for 11,000.