S2025E26: Fighting the Cocaine Cartels

Cocaine deaths in the UK have soared over the last ten years. Consumption per person is now said to be the highest in Europe. So how do the cartels get their drugs into the country? Reporter Darragh MacIntyre investigates how some traffickers are using Ireland as a backdoor smuggling route. The vast Irish coastline provides countless places to land drugs and is vulnerable to the cartels. One extraordinary cocaine bust reveals the high-stakes battle with the traffickers at sea.