Two British men are facing possible life prison terms for their roles in an international drug smuggling ring after Irish authorities seized 1.7 tonnes of cocaine on a yacht.
Philip Doo, 52, and Christopher Wiggins, 42, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply of the massive haul from South America believed to be worth more than 650 million euro (£580 million).
Doo, from Devon, and Wiggins, based in the Costa del Sol in Spain, pleaded guilty at a brief hearing in Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
The pair were detained after Irish navy, gardai and customs swooped on the 60ft ocean-going boat, Dances With Waves, 170 miles off the west Cork coast last November.
Intelligence agencies had tracked the boat for two months across the Atlantic.
A third man, David Mufford, of Torquay, Devon, is also accused of being involved in the smuggling operation and will be brought before the court on Monday to enter a plea.
The two men spoke quietly in soft English accents as they entered their guilty pleas in the packed courtroom.
Doo, of Higher Manor Road, Brixham, wore a dark sweatshirt and lowered his balding head. Wiggins, of Estepona, Malaga, wore a pair of glasses and dark checked shirt.
The two drug smugglers showed no emotion as they were led away by prison guards.
Judge Patrick J Moran remanded them in custody to be sentenced on May 8.
