31 August 2012 Last updated at 14:23 ET

Yacht cannabis haul leads to five arrests

Two Britons, two Irishmen and an Irish woman have been arrested after half a tonne of cannabis was seized from a yacht off the coast of Spain.

The Britons were arrested on the boat when it was intercepted and boarded by the Spanish navy on Thursday.

The three Irish nationals were arrested in subsequent raids in Spain.

The Irish Revenue's Customs Service said the drugs had a street value of 3m euros (£2.4m) and were heading for the Irish market.

It said it had joined forces with the Garda National Drugs Unit and Spanish police to target a Cork-based organised crime gang in "an intelligence-led drug trafficking investigation into the importation and distribution of illicit drugs into the [Irish] state by sea".

The 34ft yacht, Colin Hannah, had been based in the Irish city.

All those arrested were aged between 40 and 60.

Irish authorities said investigations into the drugs haul - believed to have originated in North Africa - were ongoing both nationally and internationally.