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24/07/2008
Cork Coke Smuggler Is Cop Killer
It has been revealed that one of the three Englishmen convicted of attempting to smuggle €440 million of cocaine had murdered a police officer.
Perry Wharrie was arrested while on parole after completing 17 years of a life-sentence for killing an English policeman, PC Francis Mason. He had been released just two years before he was arrested off the west Cork coast last year.
Wharrie 48, and fellow drug smugglers Martin Wanden 45 and Joe Daly 41, were this week handed one of the heaviest drug sentences in the history of the Irish State.
Wharrie was given 30 years, while his accomplices also faced life sentences.
A total of nine men were involved in the Dunlough Bay seizure and four remain on the run from gardaí - as well as the notorious Colombian Medellin - to whom the fugitives are said to owe €40 million following the botched smuggling attempt.
The court heard how gardaí uncovered the clandestine cocaine cruise after one gang member accidentally put diesel in a powerful petrol outboard marine engine. The craft involved later capsized, throwing 62 bales of cocaine into the stormy sea.
The drugs were estimated to be worth €440m and the cocaine had a purity level of 75% almost seven times that of street cocaine.
(DW)
Perry Wharrie was arrested while on parole after completing 17 years of a life-sentence for killing an English policeman, PC Francis Mason. He had been released just two years before he was arrested off the west Cork coast last year.
Wharrie 48, and fellow drug smugglers Martin Wanden 45 and Joe Daly 41, were this week handed one of the heaviest drug sentences in the history of the Irish State.
Wharrie was given 30 years, while his accomplices also faced life sentences.
A total of nine men were involved in the Dunlough Bay seizure and four remain on the run from gardaí - as well as the notorious Colombian Medellin - to whom the fugitives are said to owe €40 million following the botched smuggling attempt.
The court heard how gardaí uncovered the clandestine cocaine cruise after one gang member accidentally put diesel in a powerful petrol outboard marine engine. The craft involved later capsized, throwing 62 bales of cocaine into the stormy sea.
The drugs were estimated to be worth €440m and the cocaine had a purity level of 75% almost seven times that of street cocaine.
(DW)
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Ireland WeatherToday:A sunny but frosty start for many. However cloud increases by midday with a few showers reaching the north coast, these mostly light but spreading inland this afternoon. Chilly. Maximum temperature 8 °C.Tonight:A rather cloudy evening with scattered showers. Becoming drier through the night with some good clear spells developing and a patchy frost away from coasts. Minimum temperature 0 °C.
