Four men appear in court charged in relation to €160m cocaine seizure

Gráinne Ní Aodha and Cillian Sherlock, PA

Four men have appeared in court charged in relation to State's largest ever drugs haul, bringing the total number of people charged in relation to the major seizure to seven.

Cocaine worth an estimated €160 million was found on a bulk cargo ship off the south coast last week in an operation involving the Defence Forces and Gardaí.

Armed gardaí were stationed outside Mallow District Court ahead of the accused men’s appearance on Tuesday.

The four men were charged with possession of drugs, namely cocaine, on September 24th for the purpose of supplying it within the State.

Cumali Ozgen, a 48-year-old with an address in the Netherlands; Saeid Hassani, a 37-year-old Iranian national; Mykhalio Gavryk, a 30-year-old Ukrainian national; and Vitaliy Vlasoi, a 31-year-old Ukrainian national, appeared before judge Colm Roberts on Tuesday morning.

Detective Garda David Moran said that Gavryk was charged on October 2nd and made no reply when cautioned.

Detective Garda Martin Donovan said that Ozgen, who required a Dutch translator, made no reply when he was charged and cautioned.

Det Garda Val Russell told the court that Vlasoi, was charged and cautioned on October 2nd at 8.43pm.

The court heard that Vlasoi replied: “I saw straight or direct evidence of the connection between the captain and another vessel, or with somebody else who he contacted. It was shown as straight evidence, I didn’t see straight evidence against myself.”

Detective Garda Lorraine Brennan said Hassani, for whom proceedings were translated through Farsi, was arrested on October 2nd and made no reply to the charge.

The men did not speak except to confirm what type of translators they would need.

All four men were remanded in custody and are due to appear in court again on October 10th via video link.

Solicitors for both Vlasoi and Hassani noted to the judge that they would be making a request to board the ship in order to understand “the geographics of the vessel” before “any major structural changes are made”.

The judge noted the intention and said it would be a matter for a later date.

A total of 2,253kg of cocaine was found on the MV Matthew cargo ship after members of the Army Ranger Wing captured the vessel off the coast by abseiling from a helicopter.

Gardaí believe the cocaine, seized after the dramatic military operation at sea, was destined for distribution beyond Ireland, potentially into the UK and continental Europe.

A fishing trawler that grounded off the coast of Co Wexford days before the seizure was also being monitored as part of the operation, amid suspicions it was en route to rendezvous with the cargo ship.

Three men have already appeared at courts in Wexford and Waterford in relation to the major seizure.