Directions expected in alleged €31 million West Cork drug smuggling case

Directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for the prosecution of four men for the alleged smuggling of €31m worth of cocaine are expected within the next two weeks the district court has heard.

Detective Garda Gavin Curran told Clonakilty District Court that he was optimistic oral or written directions would be received within two weeks regarding the prosecutions that relate to the seizure of 440kg of cocaine in an operation in Courtmacsherry, West Cork in July.

Sergeant Tom Mulcahy said it was the State’s application to remand all four accused in custody to October 21, 2025, when it was expected directions on how the prosecutions would proceed will have been received.

The four accused — Mark Doherty aged 40 of Waterfoot Avenue, Glasgow, Scotland; Levent Gulay aged 31 of Schwabenstrasse, Neu Ulm, Bavaria, Germany; Christopher Hibbett, aged 44 of Lower Pk, Trissillian, Truro, Cornwall, England, and Ben Sandford aged 39, of Woodgreen, Drumm Rd, Keith, Moray, Scotland, all appeared before Judge John King by video link from Cork Prison.

The accused each face two charges under the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1977, possession of cocaine under Section 3 and possession of cocaine for sale or supply under Section 15.

Mark Doherty and Levent Gulay were arrested on July 1 when gardaí from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau stopped a van in the Courtmacsherry area and cocaine valued in excess of €31m was seized by Revenue Customs Service.

Ben Sandford and Christopher Hibbett were arrested on a rigid inflatable boat (RIB) that departed Courtmacsherry on July 1 and was intercepted by two naval service RIBs dispatched from the LÉ William Butler Yeats off the coast of Waterford.

Plunkett Taaffe, solicitor for Ben Sandford, told the court that his client was indicating the intention to enter a signed guilty plea in relation to the charges.

Judge King remanded all four in custody to appear again by video link on October 21.