A top level EU official has informed the Naval Service of a warning that it faces a “game-changer” in drug trafficking with the use by cartels of “narco submarines” to transport narcotics into Europe.

Michael O’Sullivan said the first-ever discovery in Europe of semi-submersibles, sent across the Atlantic by South American drug lords, also poses a security threat with the potential the vessels could be used by terrorists to carry and deploy explosives.

As the Irish Examiner has documented in recent months, a manpower crisis affecting the naval service has seen a number of vessels unable to go out on patrol.

Mr O'Sullivan, the executive director of the EU Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre — Narcotics (MAOC-N) said Europe will be “flying blind” if the Irish Naval Service and the Air Corps do not deploy their ships and their planes to track vessels.

MAOC-N is made up of seven EU member states, including Ireland, and targets the transportation of drugs — predominantly cocaine and cannabis — across the Atlantic and into Europe.

The newspaper has more to report here.