In July, three members of a drugs smuggling gang were convicted of attempting to smuggle 1.5 tonnes of cocaine worth €1.2bn into Ireland using a RIB. They were thwarted when their attempts to run the boat’s Yamaha outboards on diesel fuel hampered their high speed dash to the Irish coast.
The Colombian drugs gang lost millions of pounds and the investigation led police to Britain, Spain, South Africa, the US, Barbados and Colombia. The gang’s lack of experience with RIBs proved to be their downfall – they obviously hadn’t taken an RYA course!
The RYA and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) have come together to tackle the use of RIBs by organised crime. SOCA has intelligence that craft manufactured in the UK are being used to transport significant quantities of drugs, arms and people across the Channel into the UK, and for criminal activity in other parts of Europe and further afield.
SOCA has launched Operation Callisto to tackle this criminal activity and is asking for your help in reporting suspicious sightings of RIBs. The one used in the failed drug run to Ireland would certainly have looked suspicious to any observer at the fuelling station. Other potentially suspicious sightings might include the vessel itself (eg. its size, appearance, number of engines, lack of A-frame, location, etc) or the actions of the people using it.
If you spot something suspicious, note the date, time and location of the sighting, together with a description of the RIB, including its length, colour and make, and the number and make of its engines, if known. Sightings could include RIBs moored in marinas, being used around the coast or being transported around the country, if they fall into the suspicious category.
Details of vehicles that may be associated with suspicious RIBs could also be valuable. If the RIB is seen being towed, note the direction of travel, road number, the make, model and vehicle registration number of the vehicle.
You are asked not to engage in conversations with anyone in possession of suspicious RIBs in order to ascertain additional information on behalf of SOCA. Further, SOCA stresses that it is only asking for information of suspicious activity and not reports of normal, legal use of RIBs for pleasure or business.
To report a suspicious sighting, please complete the form available via the link above and send it to the address shown.
If it is obvious that someone is actually in the process of committing a crime, then the matter should be reported in the normal way, by notifying local Police immediately.