Cork court told car was modified to hide cocaine behind seats

Over eleven kilos of cocaine with an €837,000 street value and destined for the Christmas market for drugs in Cork city was discovered in a secret compartment built into the floor of a black Volkswagen Passat stopped by gardaí.

Now the driver has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment with the last year suspended by Judge Helen Boyle at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Detective Garda Rory Fogarty testified that the car was stopped on the M8 at Glanmire, County Cork, on December 18 2024.

“Gardaí had confidential information that the driver of this car was involved in the transportation of large quantities of cocaine on a national basis,” Det Garda Fogarty said.

32-year-old Maceks Rihards of Main Street, Tipperary Town, County Tipperary, pleaded guilty to having the drugs for sale or supply at a time when their street value exceeded €13,000, the threshold figure which put him at risk of a minimum sentence of ten years.

Det. Garda Fogarty said the drugs were found in a concealed compartment underneath the area between the back seats and the boot.

“Interviewed on two occasions, he initially claimed he thought there was a bag containing a box of money which he was asked to drive from Dublin to an unknown location in Cork.

“Challenged about this by gardaí he later admitted that he knew it was drugs he was transporting and that he was to receive a €500 payment. He did not name the man who would pay him or name any person.

“He was working as a courier. The car was modified for the sole purpose of transporting drugs for a highly organised criminal group who trusted him with this work.

“The drugs were destined for Cork over the Christmas period.

“He is 32 years old and Latvian. He has been in custody since his arrest in December 2024.” Donal O’Sullivan defence senior counsel said the defendant had consent to bail but did not take it up. The defendant was essentially homeless at the time, living between his car and sleeping on the couch in friends’ homes.

Mr O’Sullivan said it was a signed plea of guilty. “He got himself into difficulties and he fell into a chaotic life. He was being threatened by persons involved – the persons behind this are people no one would like to have looking their way.”