Inflatable boat tried to make rendezvous with ship at sea in bid to import drugs, court hears

Irish Times

5 days ago

A rigid inflatable boat tried and failed to 'rendezvous' with a ship off the south coast in an attempt to smuggle a large quantity of drugs into the country, the Special Criminal Court heard.
A number of vehicles were later intercepted by gardaí at Tragumna Pier in Cork following a tip off from a member of the public, judges were told.
Ten men were arrested by gardaí in March last year during operations in the villages of Tragumna and Leap near Skibbereen, Co Cork, where a jeep, camper van, articulated truck and rigid inflatable boat were seized as part of the suspected drug smuggling operation.
After gardaí intercepted the vehicles they discovered a large quantity of nautical equipment including satellite phones, GPS devices, radios and control panels and wetsuits.
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The non-jury court heard that the ship the rigid inflatable boat (RIB) was attempting to 'rendezvous' with had passed an area in Denmark in mid-March. Eight-hundred-and-forty kilogrammes of cocaine valued at €58 million to €59 million was later found washed up in the area.
Five men have previously pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to import drugs. They are: Mario Angel Del Rio Sanz (45), of no fixed abode but from Spain; Anuar Rahui Chairi (42), of Malaga, Spain; Juan Antonio Gallardo Barroso (56), of no fixed address, Spain; Aleksandar Milic (27) with an address in Belgrade, Serbia; and Kiumaars Ghabiri (52) with an address in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
At the court on Monday two co-accused – Pedro Pablo Ojeda Ortega (36) of Cadiz and Angel Serran Padilla (40) of Malaga, both Spain, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to import drugs.
Inspector Joseph Young told the court how on Tuesday, February 27th, 2024, gardaí were conducting a checkpoint at Gully in Bandon, Co Cork, and stopped two men – an Irish national and a foreign national – in a car. Gardaí noted the men were 'nervous' and 'evasive' and decided to carry out a search, which led to the two men being brought to Bandon Garda station.
During the search, a notepad was found in the vehicle with co-ordinates for Dromadoon Pier and Rosscarbery Pier as well as details for six Airbnb and rental properties.
On March 12th, 2024, gardaí received confidential information about suspicious activity at Tragumna pier. A member of the public observed what he believed to be suspicious activity when he saw an articulated truck reversing down and a camper van and other vehicles including a black Land Rover and a white transit van about 50 metres away.
A monitoring operation was put in place.
Two days later, shortly after midnight, the campervan was observed leaving an Airbnb rental near Leap and entering the Tragumna area. At around 5am the Land Rover and articulated truck also appeared at the slipway at Tragumna and 10 minutes later a black rigid inflatable boat (RIB) was observed.
The people from the RIB and those on the pier who had alighted from the three vehicles interacted and a number of holdall bags were transferred from the RIB to the pier.
At 7.20am, five of the defendants – Juan Antonio Gallardo Barroso, Aleksander Milic, Pedro Pablo Ojeda Ortega, Angel Serran Padilla and Anuar Rahui Chairi – and one other man were detained, and the white camper van was seized.
A further intervention took place at the pier where the articulated truck and trailer and the black Land Rover were still in place and a number of arrests were made at that location also.
Insp Young said the investigation team's belief was that a 'rendezvous' or what is known as a 'sea drop off' would occur.
The sentencing hearing continues on Tuesday.
Earlier on Monday, counsel for three other co-accused – Ali Ghasemi Mazidi (50), with an address in the Netherlands; Sean Curran (37), with an address at Carrickyheenan, Aughnacloy, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh; and Raul Tabares Garcia (48), of Cadiz, Spain – said their clients were seeking trial dates.
Ms Justice Karen O'Connor said the court would list the matter for mention on July 28th.