Three men have been jailed for their part in trying to smuggle cocaine worth €350m off the Irish coast.

The drugs were seized when the yacht “Makayabella” was intercepted off Cork last September.

71-year-old John Powell from Silsden, West Yorkshire was jailed for ten years by Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

His co-accused - 35-year-old Benjamin Mellor of Bradford, Yorkshire and 28-year-old Thomas Britteon of Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire - were handed eight year sentences.

All three had pleaded guilty to charges of drug possession and attempting to smuggle drugs.

The Makayabella was boarded by the navy in choppy seas 250 miles off Mizen Head on September 23 last year.

A total of 41 bales of cocaine – which was around 70 per cent pure - were seized as part of a joint Garda, Customs & Excise and Naval Service operation.