Man charged with having stashes of cocaine and cannabis worth €246,000 at flat in Cork city 

An Italian national – Owayne Ventura – was arrested and charged with having stashes of cocaine and cannabis with a street value of €246,000 at his flat in Cork city.

Detective Garda Dermot Crowley of the divisional drug unit in the city charged Ventura who was living at a flat on Rutland Place, Douglas Street, Cork, with four counts under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Mr Ventura was charged with having cannabis and cocaine and being in possession of the drugs for the purpose of sale or supply.

While the accused man said in court that he would be pleading guilty to the charges and that he was holding the drugs for an organised crime gang he repeatedly told gardaí, “I am not a drug dealer.” Defence solicitor, Diarmuid Kelleher, was appointed to represent the accused man on free legal aid.

An application was made for bail but this application was refused by Judge Olann Kelleher who remanded Mr Ventura in custody until October 18 when he will appear again at Cork District Court but on that occasion by video link from prison.

The defendant had his left leg in plaster to below the knee and walked with the aid of a crutch. He said he was injured playing soccer.

The charges relate to Wednesday, October 11 when drugs unit gardaí went to the defendant’s home with a search warrant. It is alleged that they located a stash of drugs in his bedroom and another quantity of drugs in the hotpress of the flat.

Sergeant Pat Lyons cross-examined the defendant in the course of the application for bail where Mr Ventura insisted that he would honour any conditions and turn up in court on the adjourned date if granted bail.

Sgt. Lyons said to the accused that he could be looking at the prospect of a ten-year sentence on conviction and that there would be a good incentive for him to leave Cork. The sergeant said the accused had no ties to the community in Cork, owned no property, had no family and no children and that from the prosecution point of view there would be a real risk of him leaving. 

Mr Ventura replied, “I have a girlfriend here. I wouldn’t leave her for anything.” Sgt. Lyons asked, “Are you asking the court to believe that the strength of your relationship with your girlfriend would keep you here?” He replied, “100 per cent. I have no reason to go somewhere else. Me and my girlfriend were planning to get a house. We have no plans to go anywhere else.

“I understand the severity of the case. I would not be leaving to go anywhere.” He said his girlfriend is also Italian.