Man jailed for smuggling cocaine worth €21m to Ireland on ship from Brazil

David Raleigh

A Bulgarian man who admitted smuggling €21.6 million worth of cocaine onboard a cargo ship from Brazil to Ireland has been jailed for 10 years.

Kamen Petkov had been in control of “such a large quantity of drugs that it was impossible not to conclude that thousands of lives would have been affected by such a volume of drugs”, Judge Colin Daly told Petkov’s sentencing hearing held at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday.

Petkov told gardaí he had gambling debts of €37,000 and that he was to be paid €150,000 for managing the drug shipment on the Maltese registered vessel, the MV Verila, which docked at Foynes Port, Co Limerick, on December 19th, 2023, after it had journeyed from Brazil and Canada with a consignment of sugar and grain.

Judge Daly said Petkov (36) had “facilitated organised crime internationally for a significant reward” and Petkov’s debts may have made him more vulnerable to involving himself in the international criminal “enterprise”.

Detective Garda Adrian Cahill gave evidence that the €21 million haul was “pure cocaine, with a potential value of five times that amount on the street” estimated at €105 million.

Petkov, who had no previous convictions, was apprehended by gardaí after the ship was searched by customs officers who were acting on a confidential tip off.

The customs officials found 12 bales of cocaine hidden in an air-conditioned room on the bulk vessel after it had docked at Foynes Port.

Petkov, a married father of one, showed no emotion as he was led away to begin his prison sentence, which was backdated to December 22nd, 2023, the date he first entered custody.