‘Cocaine mule's' boot-camp claim after being charged with conspiracy to import drugs
Ali Mazidi covers his face as he's led by officers
One of 10 men charged with conspiracy to import drugs after being arrested with satellite phones, walkie-talkies, tracking devices, bug detection devices and stealth boat claimed he was innocent and merely going to a 'military style fitness boot camp'.
Iranian-Dutch national Ali Mazidi (49), with an address in Rotterdam, was one of the alleged gang members arrested in Tragumna and Leap in west Cork following a surveillance operation on March 14 last year.
No drugs were landed in Ireland but 840 kilos of cocaine worth more than €58 million was found washed up on beaches in Denmark.
It is unclear if the mission to land the drugs in Ireland was aborted due to surveillance fears or poor sea conditions.
The men, of various nationalities including Irish, Spanish, Iranian-Dutch and Serbian, were charged before the Special Criminal Court with conspiracy to import controlled drugs into Ireland.
Some have pleaded guilty while other maintain their innocence including Mazidi, who told gardai he was taking part in a fitness boot camp.
The suspects had used a 40 foot RIB (rigid inflatable boat) with three high powered engines attached to it which had been modified for stealth and speed. All lights were blacked out and any surface capable of reflecting light had been spray painted black while its screens were also taped over.
Gardai believe the stealth boat was going to be used to meet with a 'mothership' to collect a large quantity of drugs but the meeting never took place and the drugs ended up washing up in Denmark.
A court has also heard Mazidi had travelled to the United Arab Emirates, Peru, Columbia, Trinidad & Tobago and Ecuador on two occasions and Turkey in the months before his arrest.
Mazidi told gardai he was 'a self-employed coffee distributor'.
Specific details of how the operation unfolded were revealed in a recent unsuccessful Supreme Court case taken by Mazidi looking to overturn a High Court decision to refuse him bail.
The court heard that uniformed garda stopped a car in Bandon on February 27, 2024, and when asked for identification, Mazidi, who was a passenger in the vehicle, said all his documents were in his hotel.
However, gardai found a number of identity documents including a Dutch passport belonging to Mazidi when they searched the vehicle.
The passport revealed his extensive travel history in the months previously to several countries on multiple continents with links to the international cocaine trade.
Gardai also found a notepad with various pier locations, accommodations and travel times and distances between the piers and accommodations.
Mazidi was later released without charge.
Ali Mazidi covers his face as he's led by officers
A concerned citizen had contacted gardai after three vehicles converged on Tragumna Pier, around 5km from Skibbereen, on March 12.
The witness observed the boat being launched to sea and contacted gardai who launched a surveillance operation.
Gardai watched as all three vehicles reconverged on the pier at 4.45am on March 14, almost 48 hours later while the RIB was approaching the coastline.
All 10 co-accused were on the pier as the boat was loaded with difficulty onto the trailer.
At 7.20am the campervan left the pier and drove into Leap village. Gardai arrested the occupants of the van and those remaining on the pier.
Mazidi was arrested in the rear of the stolen Land Rover with three other men.
Gardai found receipts which showed more than £8,500 had been spent on maritime clothing alone prior to March 12.
They also found a large volume of communication devices including five owned by Mazidi.
Mazidi claimed his presence in the area 'related to the organisation of a military style fitness bootcamp'.
He denied any involvement in drug importation.
He also claimed gardai handed him a phone and 'planted a document' in his bag during the arrest operation.
In April , three of his co-accused, Mario Angel Del Rio Sanz (45) of no fixed abode in Spain; Anuar Rahui Chairi (42) of Malaga in Spain; and Aleksander Milic (27) of Svetorgorska, Belgrade in Serbia, pleaded guilty to the charges.
Gardai swooped at Tragumna Pier near Skibbereen
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