‘Go like f**k mate': How the MV Matthew ship and a €157 million drugs haul was seized

Irish Times

05-06-2025

Vitaliy Lapa and Jamie Harbron were exhausted, sick and terrified as their ship, the Castlemore, lost power and lost communication in a storm off the Irish coast.
Harbron, a drug user from Billingham near Middlesbrough in the northeast of England with no seafaring background, had taken the job to help pay a debt. He had been sick since they boarded two days earlier.
Lapa (62), the captain and an experienced fisherman from Ukraine, hadn't wanted to use the Castlemore, an Irish ship, for this mission. But under pressure from a
Dubai
-based criminal who was paying for the vessel, he had agreed to take charge.
The plan was that they would meet up with the MV Matthew, a larger bulk carrier that had been loaded with 2.2 tonnes of cocaine on its voyage across the Atlantic. But with no power, wifi or communications, and little clue what they were doing, Lapa and Harbron failed to make the rendezvous and ran aground near the
Wexford
coast on September 24th, 2022.
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Further details of how the MV Matthew came to be in Irish waters emerged in evidence before the
Special Criminal Court
during this week's sentencing hearing of eight men who have pleaded guilty to offences arising from the seizure of €157 million worth of drugs on board the bulk carrier.
Like Lapa and Harbron on the Castlemore, the crew of the MV Matthew were suffering too on their journey across the Atlantic in September 2022.
They had left
Venezuela
early that month but some on board were surprised when, a few days into the voyage, they stopped to take on what they were told were spare parts.
Harold Estoesta, a 31-year-old Filipino and the second officer on the MV Matthew, later described to
gardaí
how the cargo was loaded from another boat by crane after ordinary members of the crew had been plied with alcohol.
Estoesta's concerns were heightened, he said, when he saw the crew of the other boat armed with guns. When he expressed misgivings, he was told he would get a bonus to keep his concerns to himself.
The Naval Service considered using the deck-mounted gun to fire on the MV Matthew but paused when they learned the Army rangers were on their way
Soheil Jelveh (52), an Iranian, was the captain of the MV Matthew but he told gardaí that his instructions came from a figure in Dubai, referred to as Captain Noah. Jelveh had retired as a sea captain in 2019 to prioritise his work as a soccer coach and it was through coaching that he came into contact with individuals from Dubai.
His own barrister counsel told the court this week that these people 'wined and dined him' and promised to help him to buy a sports bar in the Emirate city, where he could live with his family.
They brought his wife and son to Dubai as part of the deal. But with Jelveh at sea, he would claim that he began to feel he had been 'violated'. He worried about his family in Dubai and said that he came to believe that the Dubai 'cartel' had placed one of the crew on board to kill him.
As the MV Matthew crossed the Atlantic, preparations were under way in Ireland. A man referred to as a 'person of interest' in the investigation, who has since moved to Dubai, met Lapa in Newry.
They picked up Harbron in Dublin and travelled to Castletownbere in west Cork to meet a man who had advertised the Castlemore for sale.
But Lapa wasn't happy.
The engine did not have the capacity or speed for what was required, he complained. The seller of the vessel would tell gardaí that despite Lapa's concerns, his companion from Dubai ordered him to buy the boat.
A wifi router was placed on board so Lapa and Harbron could communicate with people onshore and use a group chat for further instructions from Dubai.
The Castlemore set out from the south coast on Friday, September 22nd with regular communications about where, when and how it would receive the cargo from the MV Matthew. Four to six 'jumbo bags' would be lowered by rope.
'It be a lot but just go like f**k mate. Tuck away. Proportion it on each side so balanced,' one message read.
By Saturday, the weather was getting stormier and so was Jelveh's mood. It became apparent that the Castlemore was having problems getting on the internet and couldn't communicate. The Castlemore missed the first rendezvous and the winds grew stronger.
Jelveh sent messages to the group saying the drop would not be possible because of the weather and he complained about trying to meet another vessel in the Irish Sea.
'You will drag me all the way here in the storm. Here it is not possible. I begged you to go to the Mediterranean ... low pressure here all the time,' he said in one message.
Captain Noah finally had enough and messaged the crew to say he was taking over.
'Please comply with all instructions,' he said.
On the afternoon of September 24th, the Castlemore, having run aground, sent a distress call to the coast guard.
The MV Matthew was monitoring the frequencies and by midnight they were exchanging messages about the stricken Castlemore. But the Dubai organisation was not deterred. They deleted the Castlemore phone from the group chat and told the MV Matthew crew to expect a different boat.
Jelveh had had enough. He contacted the lifeguard requesting a medical evacuation and a helicopter came to airlift him away. He brought with him two suitcases. When gardaí searched them, they found mobile phones and a satellite phone with incriminating communications between the MV Matthew, the Castlemore and Dubai. They also found more than $52,000 (€45,500) in cash.
The phones confirmed for gardaí that the drugs were still on board the MV Matthew and they decided it was time to move.
At 4.52am on September 26th, the Naval Service vessel, the LE William Butler Yeats, approached the MV Matthew and ordered it to proceed to port.
The MV Matthew responded that they had engine difficulties and would be remaining at anchor for two days while Estoesta relayed everything that was said back to the organised crime group in Dubai.
The Dubai organisation provided inaccurate AI-generated legal advice telling the MV Matthew that the Irish authorities were not allowed to board.
'Don't lose confidence,' the Dubai-based gang said.
At 12.11pm, it became apparent the MV Matthew was not moving towards Cork but was heading for international waters. An
Irish Naval
Service commander took over and the LE William Butler Yeats officially became a warship. The commander escalated the warnings and fired three times.
Estoesta responded by saying the crew have families and 'don't like problems'.
'We don't like problems either,' the commander responded. 'We want you to comply with our instructions.'
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The Naval Service considered using the deck-mounted gun to fire on the MV Matthew but paused when they learned the Army rangers were on their way.
Estoesta reported the warning shots to Dubai and was initially told to keep the drugs on board and 'go full speed'.
As it became clear the naval vessel was not letting them go, the order came to put the drugs in a lifeboat, set them on fire and head for Sierra Leone in west Africa.
'We don't want a single dollar profit ... we don't want you to go to jail for nothing,' came the message from Dubai.
They told Estoesta to stay calm. There was, they said, 'no helicopter, no commando, be confident, there is a law preventing them boarding the ship'.
Estoesta ordered the crew to set the drugs on fire using diesel, gasoline or paint thinners.
Some of the cocaine seized from the MV Matthew. Photograph: An Garda Siochana/PA Wire
From Dubai, another message read: 'Don't let them communicate with you. Put the lifeboat on fire and f**k it. Otherwise, good luck.'
Estoesta was following the orders from Dubai when a helicopter appeared. He photographed it and uploaded the image to the group. But there was no more advice from Dubai.
Using rope ladders, the rangers climbed down to the ship while the MV Matthew manoeuvred in an unsuccessful bid to prevent them safely boarding.
Det Supt Keith Halley would tell the Special Criminal Court that it took 'great bravery' for the soldiers to board.
They extinguished the fire, preserving the cocaine for evidence and displayed their wide-ranging skill when one of the rangers, an experienced seaman, steered the vessel to Cork harbour.
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Eight men now face lengthy prison sentences for their roles in the attempted shipment of €157 million worth of cocaine across the Atlantic.
Ukrainians Mykhailo Gavryk (32) and Vitaliy Vlasoi (33); Iranians Soheil Jelveh (52) and Saeid Hassani (40); Filipino Harold Estoesta (31) and Dutch national Cumali Ozgen (50) have pleaded guilty to charges that between September 24th and 26th, 2023, at locations outside the State, on board the MV Matthew they possessed cocaine for sale or supply, in contravention of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations.
Ukrainian national Vitaliy Lapa (62), with an address at Rudenka, Repina Str in Berdyansk, and Jamie Harbron (31) of South Avenue, Billingham in the UK have pleaded guilty that between September 21st and 25th, 2023 they attempted to possess cocaine for sale or supply, in contravention of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
The operation to intercept the shipment was part of a transnational effort targeting international criminal organisations, Det Supt Halley told the court this week. Several people of interest remain under investigation.
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Ms Justice Melanie Greally, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Gráinne Malone, in the Special Criminal Court will deliver the men's sentences on July 4th.