‘Putin has blood on his hands' blasts MEP as Irish mother seeks answers about son's death in Russian air strike
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Russian president Vladimir Putin has been accused of having the blood of a Reuters news employee with strong links to the midlands 'on his hands' as his Irish born mother desperately seeks answers over the circumstances which led up to his death.
Thirty-eight-year-old Ryan Evans was working as a safety adviser with news agency Reuters when a missile struck the hotel he had been staying in with colleagues in the city of Kramatorsk on August 24 last year.
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Sunday World
27 minutes ago
- Sunday World
Inflatable boat tried to ‘rendezvous' with ship in attempt to smuggle drugs
Ten men were arrested by gardai in March last year during operations in the villages of Tragumna and Leap near Skibbereen in west Cork 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 before a number of vehicles were intercepted by gardaí at Tragumna Pier in Cork following a tip off from a member of the public, a court has heard. Ten 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. After gardaí intercepted the vehicles they discovered a large quantity of nautical equipment including satellite phones, GPS devices, radios and control panels and wetsuits. The court heard that the ship the rigid inflatable boat (RIB) was attempting to 'rendezvous' with, passed an area in Denmark in Mid-March. 840 kilos of cocaine valued at between €58 and €59 million was subsequently found washed up in the area. Five men - 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; Kiumaars Ghabiri (52) with an address in Rotterdam in the Netherlands have previously pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to import drugs. At the Special Criminal Court yesterday two co-accused - Pedro Pablo Ojeda Ortega (36) of Cadiz and Angel Serran Padilla (40) of Malaga -pleaded guilty to a charge that they conspired with their 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. Inspector Joseph Young gave evidence to Tessa White BL that on Tuesday, February 27, 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 course of the search, a notepad was found in the vehicle with coordinates for Dromadoon Pier and Rosscarbery Pier as well as details for six Airbnb and rental properties. On March 12, 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. Inspector Young said Tragumna pier is located between the two piers referenced in the note found in the car and is located about 8km south of Skibereen town and 15km from the village of Leap. A number of vehicles, including a blue Scania articulated truck, a black Land Rover discovery jeep and a campervan were identified as being of interest. The jeep and the campervan were observed at a hotel in the area. An operation was put in place to monitor the vehicles, a property rented on Airbnb and a number of people 'coming and going'. Enquiries were ongoing in what was a large-scale operation both nationally and internationally and the suspicion at that point was of a criminal enterprise of drugs importation. Inspector Young said a ship known as the Cool Explorer – a legitimate ship with legitimate cargo - had left Ecuador some weeks earlier. He said the ship was a Panama flagged vessel and was due to arrive at its intended destination of St Petersburg in Russia on March 17. In the course of its route, the ship was to pass within 30 nautical miles of Land's End in the UK around March 12. Inspector Young said on March 14, going into March 15, the ship passed an area in Denmark known as Sjaellands Odde. 840 kilos of cocaine valued at between €58 and €59 million was subsequently found washed up in the area. The coordinates of the cocaine matched the coordinates being used by the Cool Explorer in its voyage. On March 14, 2024, 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 ten 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. There was an attempt to put the boat onto the trailer and then back into the truck but there appeared to be some difficulty with the manoeuvre and as a consequence the engine and the back of the RIB were still sticking out of the trailer. The campervan left the pier just before a quarter to seven and the articulated truck moved up the slipway slightly but remained at the site. At 7.20am, an interdiction was carried out on the white camper van and 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 vehicle 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. Ms White said it is the prosecution's case that the intention was that the RIB would 'rendezvous' with the Cool Explorer. Inspector Young said the investigation teams belief was that a 'rendezvous' or what is known as a 'sea drop off' would occur. He said the campervan, which was hired in the Armagh area, had a GPS tracker and had been driven from the north of Ireland to the south. He said the Land Rover had been stolen in Glasgow the previous December and was fitted with false registration plates. The Scania truck which transported the RIB had Bulgarian plates and belonged to a company in Northern Ireland which had a sister company in Bulgaria. He said Mr Curran was employed by this company as a truck driver. A large number of items of nautical equipment were found in the campervan and in an Airbnb rental. A significant number of dry suits and wet suits and a quantity of electronic devices were also seized along with more than 30 mobile phones including satellite phones. Inspector Young told the court that satellite phones can operate independent of any land masses so are capable of working at sea. Other items included GPS devices, radios and control panels, a high frequency detector and binoculars. Former Naval Officer Gary Delany, acting in a consultancy role, examined the RIB and found it was fitted with three 300 horsepower engines and a large amount of fuel. He noted the central control panel and the Garmin radar dome had all been painted black and there was only one light on the RIB itself that wasn't very visible. No radar reflector was fitted which would be standard for a vessel of this type. 'His description was that it was for the purposes of detecting but not being detected,' Inspector Young said. A Garmin GPS on the console of the RIB and two GPS from the campervan were seized and Mr Delaney established from those that the RIB had been at the pier at 5am on the morning in question. He confirmed that the intention was to 'rendezvous' with the Cool Explorer that morning. Inspector Young said the devices on the console contained 27 waypoints. He said waypoints can be an intended destination or a place you have been and can be input of 'traversing or travelling in that direction'. He said the waypoints of the RIB and the entirety of its journey – spanning 985km over the course of just under 48 hours – showed an attempt to travel towards the path of the Cool Explorer. He said it changed course on two occasions in an effort to interdict the passage of the ship. He said when the RIB was about 50km from Lizard Point in the UK it turned back. At that point it was still some 100km away from the position of the Cool Explorer. The sentencing hearing continues today. Earlier today, 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 in Spain said their clients were seeking trial dates. Ms Justice Karen O'Connor said the court would list the matter for mention on Monday, July 28 with a view to listing a trial date at that time. Ten men were arrested in west Cork after anti-drug operation Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 21st
Sunday World
2 hours ago
- Sunday World
Drug mule visiting Ireland as he was ‘big fan of Conor McGregor' jailed for importing cocaine
Anthony Matheus Rosas De Souza (29) also told custom officials when he was stopped at Dublin Airport that he had heard Irish beer was good A drugs mule who claimed he was visiting Ireland because he was a big fan of Conor McGregor and he liked the look of Irish pubs in the movies has been jailed for importing cocaine. Anthony Matheus Rosas De Souza (29) also told custom officials when he was stopped at Dublin Airport that he had heard Irish beer was good and that he was planning to meet up with a woman he had connected with on Tinder. He later admitted that he had been forced to transport the drugs from Brazil because he owed money to a loan shark. His mother was threatened and he was told that if he brought the suitcase into Ireland his debt would be written off. De Souza, who is originally from the Amazon region of Brazil, has been on remand in custody since his arrest at the airport. He pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to importing cocaine at Terminal One, Dublin Airport on November 1, 2024. He has no previous convictions. Garda Andrew Fay told Simon Donagh BL, prosecuting, that the suitcase was X-rayed after De Souza was spotted acting evasively and suspiciously. Six packages of cocaine, weighing 2.88 kilogrammes and with an estimated street value of €201,600 were found concealed in the lining of the luggage. Gda Fay agreed with Aisling Ginger-Quinn BL, defending, that her client said he owed money to loan sharks and was approached by others who told him if he did this favour 'his debt would be forgiven'. He was provided with the flight but got no further payment for bringing the drugs to Dublin. Gda Fay accepted that De Souza was acting as a drugs mule. Judge Orla Crowe accepted that De Souza was deliberately acting as a drug mule and brought drugs into this country. She said the courts see 'day in and day out, the wreckage, chaos and havoc' caused by the drug trade in this country and noted it was people like De Souza playing a 'key component' in the trading of drugs that facilitate this. She acknowledged that De Souza will be serving a sentence away from his 'supportive family' before she set a headline sentence of four years and six months. Judge Crowe imposed a sentence of three years which she backdated to when De Souza first went into custody last November. Dublin Airport Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 21st
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Tariff uncertainty means 'tighter' spending for Budget 2026
Ministers will be told of the need to 'moderate' spending ahead of this year's budget as the Government unveils its financial package this week. The Government will today release the summer economic statement, which will outline the broad parameters of this year's budget. While Government sources say there will be money to spend and it will roll out a €30bn national development plan update, economic uncertainty means that current spending will need to be managed. A Government source said the ongoing uncertainty on the impacts of the Trump administration's tariffs on EU goods as well as any potential EU countermeasures means that the future of Irish finances is harder to predict and will necessitate a 'tighter' budget this year. It is expected that Tánaiste Simon Harris will tell Cabinet this year's document will be 'different' from previous years, given the continued uncertainty with tariffs, and that decisions made in the budget will 'have to focus on protecting jobs and investment during what could be an economically turbulent period ahead'. Government sources have said that the increase in protectionism, rising tariffs, and the 'fragmentation of global supply chains' pose a threat to Ireland's economic model, but that Budget 2026 will see additional spending and taxation measures delivered. Privately, some ministers have pointed to existing level of service (ELS) commitments as a concern in meeting additional demands. ELS is often referred to as 'standing still money' and covers previous commitments and demographic growth. In last year's summer statement, the projection for this year's budget was that there would be around €2bn for additional expenditure and €1.2bn for tax-related changes. Sources said that they believed these figures would be close to the final package available later this year. Sources said there will be a surplus, but that future budgets could be impacted by tariffs and their fallout. The Government will today reiterate three strands to its budget approach by committing to investment in infrastructure, as well as pledging funds for public services, and contributing to two long-term funds aimed at mitigating external shocks such as tariffs. Finance minister Paschal Donohoe is expected to tell Cabinet that increased investments in the likes of health and education will be made on a permanent basis and that the Government is also focused on 'maintaining the stability of the public finances'. The Government will continue to put money away in the infrastructure, climate, and nature fund, as well as the future Ireland fund. Sources said the focus has been on finding 'the right balance between enhancing our public infrastructure, improving public services, and maintaining the long-term sustainability of the public finances'. The summer economic statement is designed to 'form the basis for political discussions on the budgetary process and increase transparency in the Government's approach to planning for the provision of key public services' and 'outlines the broad parameters that will underpin discussions of economic and fiscal policy over the medium term'. In recent parliamentary question responses, Mr Donohoe has said that the SES 'will incorporate all available information and data including the latest developments in the trade policy landscape'. 'That said, it is clear that we are now in a fast-evolving and more challenging global environment, with elevated levels of uncertainty; this is the reality of the situation we face.'
