Jude Webber and Laura DuboisAug 3, 2026 – 9.06amOn a naval base on Haulbowline Island, south-east of Cork, officers stationed inside a screen-filled room keep watch over a vast stretch of the Atlantic Ocean that has become a front line in Europe’s war against drugs.“It’s needle-in-the-haystack stuff,” says the commander directing Ireland’s navy fleet operations, who asks not to be named. Part of his job is to spot anomalies in satellite and other imagery that may indicate small boats increasingly used by drug traffickers.Financial TimesSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles