Further charges expected against four men in €31m West Cork drug smuggling case

Further charges are expected to be brought in the prosecution of four men currently in custody in connection with the alleged smuggling of €31m worth of cocaine, the district court has heard.

Detective Garda Gavin Curran told Clonakilty District Court that the file in the case is currently with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in Dublin. Det. Gda Curran said the State was seeking to further remand the four accused in custody with the view to putting further charges to them in four weeks' time.

Det. Gda Curran said it was anticipated further charges would be brought at the next hearing, though he did not envisage the book of evidence would be ready to be served by then. He said the State would seek for all four accused to be produced in person at Bandon District Court for the new charges.

The four accused men, 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 Park, Trissillian, Truro, Cornwall, England and Ben Sandford, aged 39, of Woodgreen, Drumm Road, Keith, Moray, Scotland, all appeared before judge Joanne Carroll by video link from Cork Prison.

The four 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 Tuesday, 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.

Christopher Hibbett asked the court what further charges were being brought and was told he would be informed at the next hearing and they may also be disclosed to his solicitor in advance. Judge Carroll remanded all four men in custody to be produced at Bandon District Court on November 17 next.