
Spanish man pleads guilty to conspiring to smuggle large quantity of drugs into Ireland
At the non-jury, three-judge Special Criminal Court on Wednesday, Juan Antonio Gallardo Barroso, aged 56, of no fixed address in Spain, was arraigned on one count, that he did conspire with his co-accused to do an act in the State that constitutes a serious offence, namely the importation of controlled drugs in excess of €13,000 on dates between February 27 and March 14 2024, both dates inclusive, within the State.
The offence is contrary to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977.
He pleaded guilty to the charge, with the matter put back by Ms Justice Karen O'Connor, presiding, to July 21 next for sentencing.
On that date, co-accused Mario Angel Del Rio Sanz, aged 45, of no fixed abode but from Spain; Anuar Rahui Chairi, aged 42, of Malaga in Spain; and Aleksandar Milic, aged 27, with an address in Belgrade in Serbia, are also listed for sentencing, having pleaded guilty to a similar charge of conspiring with others to import drugs.
A further six men are charged in connection with the case.
They are Kiumaars Ghabiri, 52, with an address in Rotterdam in the Netherlands; Ali Ghasemi Mazidi, 50, with an address in the Netherlands; Sean Curran, 37, with an address at Carrickyheenan, Aughnacloy, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh; Raul Tabares Garcia, 48, of Cadiz in Spain; Pedro Pablo Ojeda Ortega, 36 of Cadiz; and Angel Serran Padilla, 40, of Malaga.
The men were arrested by gardaí in March last year during operations in the villages of Tragumna and Leap near Skibbereen in West Cork, where a jeep, camper van, articulated truck, and rigid inflatable boat were seized as part of the suspected drug smuggling operation.

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Irish Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Two eye-witnesses of Diogo Jota crash refute Spanish police claims about tragedy
A second witness has come forward to refute Spanish police claims Liverpool star Diogo Jota appeared to be speeding when he crashed his Lamborghini supercar. Traffic cops in Zamora, near Spain's north-west border with Portugal, said on Tuesday everything was pointing to the dad-of-three driving possibly doing well above the 120kph (74mph) speed limit after revealing they believed the acid green £180,000 (approximately €209,000) Lamborghini Huracan had suffered a tyre blowout. On Wednesday, a Portuguese lorry driver claiming to be the trucker who filmed Jota's car in flames on the A-52 in Cernadilla near Zamora insisted the vehicle passed him "super calmly" and "without speeding". Jose Azevedo also said in a selfie video that he grabbed a fire extinguisher and tried to help but there was "nothing" he could do to save the Liverpool winger and his footballer brother Andre Silva, who also died in last Thursday's crash. On Thursday, a trucker named locally as Jose Aleixo Duarte told Portuguese tabloid Correio da Manha he was overtaken by Jota's car five minutes before the accident and it was going at a "moderate speed". He also slammed the road conditions where the fatal crash occurred, saying it was in a "bad state". Mr Azevedo became the first person to come forward as an eyewitness on Wednesday and identify himself as the author of footage that went viral last week showing Diogo Jota's car in flames. He said in a daytime selfie video shot from his lorry cab justifying his decision to speak out: "There's a video on the Internet, on TV, of Diogo Jota's car on fire at night. Supposedly it was a lorry driver who filmed it and didn't provide first aid. Well, that lorry driver was me. I filmed it and I have proof of it." During the four-minute video, he turned his mobile phone towards his name on his lorry tachograph, which matched the name on the HGV dashboard tachograph in the night-time footage of Jota's burning supercar. Both pieces of footage also show a slightly-cracked windscreen, which Mr Azevedo offered up as more proof he was telling the truth about seeing the crash. He said: "I stopped, grabbed the fire extinguisher and tried to help. Because of the impact of the accident - forget it - there was nothing I could do. Nothing, absolutely nothing! "As for the family, my condolences, my sincere feelings. I have a clear conscience, I know what I saw. They passed me super calmly, without speeding, without speeding." Making no mention of going to the police after witnessing the crash, Mr Azevedo said: "I didn't even know who was in the Lamborghini that day. I only found out the next day because, when I arrived at my destination, I shared the video with my wife, and in the morning I learnt that it was the brothers in the car. "You have my word that they weren't speeding. They were going super calmly. I drive this road every day, from Monday to Saturday, and I know what it's like: it's not worth s***. "It's a dark road and I could see the make of the car, the colour of the car, everything. I filmed it, I stopped, I tried to help, but unfortunately there was nothing I could do. My conscience is clear." He admitted he had "thought twice" about going public but said he had been spurred into doing so by 'internet haters' who were claiming he had done nothing to assist Diogo or his brother and had only posted footage of their burning Lamborghini for "likes". He spoke out just hours after Spanish newspaper El Mundo claimed Spanish police were still trying to identify or locate crash eyewitnesses, including the person behind the viral video of the footballers' Lamborghini in flames. In only their second official statement since last week's horror crash, the Civil Guard said on Tuesday: "The expert report is still being worked on and finalised. "Among other things traffic police from the Zamora branch of the Civil Guard are studying the tread marked by one of the wheels of the vehicle. Everything is also pointing to a possible high excess of speed over the permitted speed on that stretch of the motorway. The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week "All the tests carried out for the moment point to the driver of the crash vehicle being Diogo Jota. 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In comments to local paper La Opinion de Zamora earlier this week, the expert engineer said a tyre blowout he linked to the tyre not being in the "right conditions or having the correct pressure" wouldn't be the only factor in the crash. He told La Opinion de Zamora the central reservation barrier the siblings crashed into acted as an "obstacle" because "the length and angle of incidence were not correct". Referencing another accident in the same spot eight days earlier in which a 60-year-old woman was severely injured and had to be cut free from the wreckage of her vehicle by firefighters, Mr Lopez Delgado said: "It could be a coincidence but I'm not a big believer in coincidences. When two different cars come off the road at the same kilometre point something's up." Diogo Jota was heading to the northern Spanish port city of Santander with his brother to catch a ferry to the UK and carry on to Liverpool by car after being advised not to travel by plane following lung surgery. He had married his childhood sweetheart Rute Cardoso, mum to their three young children, on June 22. The siblings' funerals took place on Saturday at a church in their hometown of Gondomar near Porto. Several Liverpool players and Diogo's Portugal teammates were among those who attended after paying their last respects at a wake the previous day.


Sunday World
3 hours ago
- Sunday World
Irishman (58) arrested for attempted murder of John George acquaintance in Spain
The victim was approached from behind while urinating next to an electrical transformer and stabbed in the neck with a box cutter A 58-year-old Irishman has been arrested in Spain for the attempted murder of another Irish national who had previously been named as having knowledge about the murder of John George. Dan McMeekin (29) was viciously attacked with a box-cutter knife in the Costa Orihuela area of the Costa Blanca last month. He had to undergo emergency surgery at Torrevieja University Hospital to save his life after he was stabbed in the neck with a box cutter while he was going to the toilet. McMeekin previously posted a video online in which he said he should have contacted the family of John George before the 37-year-old was murdered, A 58-year-old man, described as an Irish national, was arrested by the Civil Guard for attempted murder on June 30 and brought before a Spanish court this week. Spanish police have claimed the arrested man has previous convictions for 'homicide' and drug dealing. McMeekin was viciously attacked in the early hours of June 15 on a sealed-off street near a small shopping centre in La Zenia. The stabbing suspect is led away by Spanish police News in 90 Seconds - July 10th It is believed McMeekin was knifed after being approached from behind while urinating next to an electrical transformer. The attacker inflicted a deep cut on his neck with the box cutter blade. Having interviewed the victim, officers were able to identify the suspect, although he had left his home days earlier and his whereabouts were unknown. However, a police patrol from Orihuela Costa managed to locate the suspect in a local park on June 30. After confirming his identity with the support of the Pilar de la Horadada Judicial Police Team, he was arrested. According to the news site, as the suspect was not carrying any ID however, Spanish police sought the help of Irish authorities who provided a fingerprint check. This confirmed that he has a criminal record in Ireland for serious crimes, including homicide with a firearm and drug trafficking. Having been charged with attempted murder, he was brought before Orihuela Court of Instruction No 3 which ordered his provisional release with a restraining order against the victim. McMeekin, from West Belfast, was attacked in the early hours of Sunday, in La Zenia, near Torrevieja. Despite local news reports stating there were 'pools of blood' found at the scene of the early morning attack, McMeekin survived the shocking incident and has been recovering in hospital. It has also been reported in the press in Spain that the authorities have revealed McMeekin told them he knew who had stabbed him but that he would not be telling them. John George and Dan McMeekin They also revealed McMeekin has a criminal record and it's well known he has a series of convictions for domestic abuse against a former partner. McMeekin, who is known to be extremely vulnerable due to substance abuse issues, became a target of social media trolls and amateur investigators after the murder of John George. McMeekin knew John George well and was in a bar in Spain where it's claimed a plan was hatched to attack the Belfast man who was later found murdered. The father of two was shot and his body left in a rural area in the Alicante region around December 14 although it wasn't discovered for several weeks. Supporters of John George and his family believe Dan McMeekin has information relevant to the investigation. However, he has never been arrested or charged with anything. McMeekin posted a video to his Facebook page back in January where he was visibly upset and appeared to be high on drugs or drink. He was responding to wild speculation on social media and named one TikToker who he felt was not telling the truth about him and what he knew or didn't know about John George. Slurring his words, he says: 'I am doing my best to help in so many ways... I am guilty, guilty of not telling the family sooner. I am vulnerable, this is breaking me, I have a heart, I do. 'The truth will be told, what I know is fact. It's been a hard time, I have helped. There's a lot of yous who don't know about the good I have done so stop going by social media and stop jumping to conclusions. 'I know what the family is going through, please stop jumping to conclusions, I am helping.' In January Belfast lawyers acting for the family of John George named Dan McMeekin as being one of two men who was due to appear in court in Spain – not as suspects but to tell the court what they knew about the lead-up to the murder. Two weeks after John George's body was found, Belfast legal firm KRW Law said on January 31: 'We can confirm that summonses have issued for the attendance of two persons to answer enquiries in relation to the murder of Mr George. We have been in touch with the authorities in connection with this latest development. 'We understand that each person was originally due to appear at the designated Preliminary Court sitting in Torrevieja, Spain on Wednesday, January 29, 2025 at 9.30am but are now expected to appear on Friday, January 31 in the same court. 'We are advised the two specified persons are identified as Michael Maly and Daniel Anthony McMeekin. 'The family now face an anxious wait to learn what each individual has to say. They are calling upon them to take what they say as 'a final chance to come clean' on the lead-up to and the circumstances surrounding their son's murder before Christmas last year...' Czech national Michael Maly was later arrested and appeared in court as a murder suspect but was released on bail and has yet to be charged with any offence. Jonny Smyth and Madison Allen Meanwhile 27-year-old Newtownabbey man Jonny Smyth was eventually arrested in Portugal having gone on the run before being extradited back to Spain where he has also been named as a suspect and held on remand in prison – but like Maly has not yet been charged with any offence. Sources say Jonny Smyth had helped Dan McMeekin after finding him in Spain in a bad way on drugs. But Smyth turned on Dan and gave him a beating after it's claimed he found Dan doing cocaine in the apartment Smyth shared with his partner – now wife – Madison. McMeekin has been in jail back home in Northern Ireland several times and was convicted of a number of nasty domestic abuse offences.


Sunday World
17 hours ago
- Sunday World
Spanish national pleads guilty to conspiring to smuggle large quantity of drugs into Ireland
He pleaded guilty to the charge, with the matter put back by Ms Justice Karen O'Connor, presiding, to July 21 next for sentencing At the non-jury, three-judge Special Criminal Court today, Juan Antonio Gallardo Barroso (56), of no fixed address in Spain, was arraigned on one count, that he did conspire with his co-accused to do an act in the State that constitutes a serious offence, namely the importation of controlled drugs in excess of €13,000 on dates between February 27 and March 14 2024, both dates inclusive, within the State. The offence is contrary to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977. He pleaded guilty to the charge, with the matter put back by Ms Justice Karen O'Connor, presiding, to July 21 next for sentencing. On that date, co-accused Mario Angel Del Rio Sanz (45) of no fixed abode but from Spain; Anuar Rahui Chairi (42) of Malaga in Spain; and Aleksandar Milic (27) with an address in Belgrade in Serbia, are also listed for sentencing, having pleaded guilty to a similar charge of conspiring with others to import drugs. A further six men are charged in connection with the case. They are Kiumaars Ghabiri (52) with an address in Rotterdam in the Netherlands; Ali Ghasemi Mazidi (50), with an address in the Netherlands; Sean Curran (37), with an address at Carrickyheenan, Aughnacloy, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh; Raul Tabares Garcia (48), of Cadiz in Spain; Pedro Pablo Ojeda Ortega (36) of Cadiz; and Angel Serran Padilla (40) of Malaga. The men were arrested by gardai in March last year during operations in the villages of Tragumna and Leap near Skibbereen in west Cork, where a jeep, camper van, articulated truck, and rigid inflatable boat were seized as part of the suspected drug smuggling operation. Juan Antonio Gallardo Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 9th