The authorities in Ireland have not yet contacted Navigation Maritime Bulgare, Navibulgar over the drugs discovered on board the ship Verila in the Irish port of Foynes, Navibulgar CEO captain Alexander Kalchev said for the Bulgarian National Radio.

There is no contact with the crew of 11 Bulgarians and 1 Ukrainian. The ship was transporting grain from Canada. Navibulgar says this is a serious crime and a breach of procedure. The Bulgarian shipping company has sent a lawyer who is in contact with the local authorities. If the sailors are detained, Navibulgar will send another crew. According to Irish media, quoted by the Bulgarian news agency BTA, 300 kgs of cocaine was found on board, worth EUR 21 million. Each packet was inside a safety vest so it won’t sink, and there was a GPS. According to the police, the cocaine was tossed overboard near the coast, to be recovered by a smaller boat.