Men charged over state’s biggest drug bust to be tried by Special Criminal Court – The Irish Times

Five men arrested aboard a container ship off the coast of Cork last year will be tried by the Special Criminal Court following the largest drug bust in the state’s history, with more than 2.2 tonnes of cocaine worth an estimated € 157 million was seized.

The five suspects were all crew members on board the MV Matthew when it was detained during a joint task force operation involving Customs, gardaí and the Navy when Army Rangers boarded the ship in the early hours of September 26, 2023 off the coast of East Cork. .

Today all five appeared under close guard at Mallow District Court, where Insp. Tony O’Sullivan said the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had conducted trials for all five at the Special Criminal Court and requested continued remand until May 21.

All five, the Ukrainians Myhailo Gavryk (31) and Vitaliy Vlasoi (31), the Iranian Saeid Hassani (38), the Dutchman Cumali Ozgen (49) and the Filipino Harold Estoesta, had already been charged with conspiring with others to possess the cocaine for sale or delivery. within the state on September 24, 2023.

But on Tuesday, four of the five, Mr Gavryk, Mr Vlasoi, Mr Hassani and Mr Ozgen, were charged with a new crime of which Mr Estoesta had previously been accused, namely knowingly participating in the activities of a criminal organisation, contrary to section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006.

They are charged with having, with knowledge of the existence of a criminal organization, participated in or contributed to activities with the intention or because they were reckless as to whether such participation or contribution would lead to the commission of could facilitate a serious crime by that criminal organization.

Officers from the Garda National Drug and Organized Crime Bureau, Det Gardaí David Moran, Lorraine Brennan and Mark Donovan showed arrest, charge and caution in relation to the new charges against all four, with three of the suspects making no answer and Mr Hassani replied: “I do. do not accept it.”

Inspector O’Sullivan said that although the book of evidence in the case was essentially finished and three-quarters completed, he had applied for a further fourteen-day remand to allow all five to appear at Mallow District Court on May 21. he was confident it would be ready for use.

He said it was possible that the book of evidence would be ready next Tuesday, but the new indictment against the criminal organization required a ministerial order from Foreign Minister Michel Martin and he was not sure whether Minister Martin was in the country would be to draw. the order before May 14.

Lawyer Aidan Desmond said his client, Mr Estoesta, had already been in custody for more than six months and that the State had already been granted an extension for the service of the evidence book, well beyond the statutory 42 days, and that the State was now seeking a further had to request a two-week extension. simply unbearable.

Mr Desmond’s comments were echoed by barrister Don Ryan on behalf of Mr Hassani, who pointed out that his client had been charged with a conspiracy offense on October 2, contrary to section 71 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, after which the State filed the charges moved into November. 21st.

Barrister David O’Meara for Mr Gavryk and barristers Nicholas Hall BL for Mr Ozgen and Ross Pratt O’Brien BL for Mr Vlasoi expressed similar dissatisfaction with the State’s application, with the latter saying it would mean delays reach the Special Criminal Court in the case.

Judge Colm Roberts said he would adjourn the case until May 14 so that the state could get some clarification on when the ministerial order would be signed for the book of evidence to be served on all five suspects on May 21 in the Mallow District. Court.

He said he fully accepted that the new charges required a signed ministerial decision so that the suspect could be returned for trial, but he questioned “why is it taking so far for the DPP to bring this new charge when the circumstances of the case are known to the DPP?” and to the gardaí for six months?”

‘I am not very happy that we are getting a commitment from the state that the book of evidence will not be ready until a certain date, because then a new indictment from scratch, unannounced, would be preferable. The court is not overly impressed by the last-minute nature of this complaint,” Judge Roberts said.

“It is a very serious matter and I have no doubt about the hard work of the gardaí given the complexity of the investigation. . . you wouldn’t want to be too sensitive. I know I have a modest role in the process, but it is important to maintain the integrity of the system.”