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Irish Examiner
6 days ago
- Irish Examiner
'I'm not taking the blame for any of this': Court hears of 'narco boat' in failed smuggling operation
A "narco boat" swayed on a winch as the Atlantic swell rolled in on Tragumna pier, Cork, as men struggled to load it into an articulated lorry after many of them had already endured almost 48 hours on rough, dangerous seas. The speedboat, with three powerful engines and modified to evade detection, had allegedly failed to catch up with the alleged mothership, a legitimate Panamanian flagged cargo vessel called the Cool Explorer off Britain's south-west coast to collect some €59m worth of cocaine. It returned to Tragumna in the early morning of March 14, 2024, after just under 48 hours at sea during a weather warning, having covered 985km. Frustrated shouts could be heard in shaky video footage captured by one of the accused on a phone and shown to the Special Criminal Court on Tuesday. "This is some mission here mate", an Irish voice could be heard saying in one video as they struggled to load the rigid inflatable boat (RIB) onto the articulated truck trailer. 'I don't give a fuck, I'm not taking the blame for any of this,' the Irish voice said in one video. A suspected major drug smuggling operation, involving some 850kg cocaine worth an estimated €59m which gardaí believe ultimately washed up on beaches in Denmark, had failed that night. Charting waypoints Devices subsequently seized by gardaí from 10 men arrested in West Cork, including phones with the highly encrypted Graphene operating system, contained images that showed waypoints in Denmark near where the cocaine washed ashore. Waypoints charted on the Active Captain app showed locations plotted out in the Irish Sea and the English Channel just south of Land's End. A screenshot found on a seized phone seems to show the location of the Cool Explorer, taken from a marine traffic app which helps monitor the position of cargo vessels. It was to pass by Land's End in the south of Britain around March 12, 2024. On March 14 and 15, the Cool Explorer passed an area of Denmark called Sjællands Odde. Some 850kg of cocaine was discovered subsequently washed up on beaches in the area. GPS units attached to the bags matched the co-ordinates used by the Cool Explorer, the court heard. Gardaí believe that the rigid inflatable boat left Tragumna on March 12, 2024, in a failed bid to meet the Cool Explorer — a legitimate cargo vessel — to pick up some 850kg of cocaine while at sea. Seven of the 10 men arrested in connection with the alleged operation have now pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import drugs. They are Dutch national Kiumaars Ghabiri, aged 52; Serbian national Aleksander Milic, aged 46; and Spanish nationals Mario Angel Del Rio Sanz, aged 45; Juan Antonio Gallardo Barroso, aged 56; Pedro Pablo Ojeda Ortega, aged 36; Angel Serran Padilla, aged 40; and Anuar Rahui Chairi, aged 42. 'Co-operative of groups' The accused operated in a cell structure, Inspector Joseph Young told the Special Criminal Court. A Dutch Iranian cell, an Irish cell, and a Spanish cell were involved in the operation, the court heard. The Dutch Iranian cell served a logistical support role in the conspiracy enterprise, Insp Young said. And gardaí believe that 'a co-operative of groups' had proprietary rights over the illicit cargo, believed to be some €58m of cocaine that subsequently washed up on the Danish coast. Milic, from Belgrade, was a 'notary' or representative for the Irish cell on the rigid inflatable boat, Insp Young said. Part of his role was to provide fuel to the boat, Insp Young said. He was not in a managerial role, I think the purpose of a notary role for the group is to place a representative on the boat to oversee and see that things went to plan Following his arrest on the morning of March 14, he had medical help for problems with his teeth he suffered on rough seas on the open-topped, low profile speed boat. He had no seat in the vessel, unlike the other Spanish crew, and had no helmet or gumshield to protect him. He also had debts in Serbia, defence barrister Séamus Clarke said. The Spanish cell had first travelled to Holland in February 2024. Barroso allegedly brought the rigid inflatable boat there and they all were in the area while the boat was modified in a warehouse. The speedboat's modification would classify it as a 'narco boat'" Inspector Young said. It was probably modified to conduct drug trafficking at sea, with blackened equipment and a low profile in the water, designed not to be detected, he said. Selfies taken in Holland showed some of the men lounging on couches, smiling, and giving peace signs to the camera. Another photo showed all of them enjoying dinner and wine together around a table in a chalet in Holland. Mr Sanz and Mr Chairi appeared in many photos together, retrieved from multiple devices, and they travelled together from Lisbon to Dublin. One selfie showed them smiling as they set off, sitting next to each other in an airplane at the beginning of their ill-fated operation. 'Modest means' Mr Barroso was involved in the procurement of the rigid inflatable boat and transported it to Holland, the State alleges. He knew Mr Ortega and Mr Padilla, the court heard. Mr Barroso's wife died while he was in prison, leaving their 12-year-old daughter without her parents and being taken into the care of family, the court heard. Mr Ortega, a mechanic, had previously worked for a company which was contracted to by police in Gibraltar to fix cars and boats. However, he had been unemployed for the 11 months prior to March, 2024, defence barrister Brendan Grehan said. Mr Ortega, his long-term partner, and their daughter were a family of 'modest means', with Mr Ortega's social welfare payments of €1,500 a month due to run out. His partner earned €1,600-€1,700 a month cleaning hotels. Mr Padilla, also a father, had struggled with cocaine addiction and had lapsed into abuse again before taking the Tragumna job, defence barrister Michael Bowman said. He was hired for his experience at sea and had no proprietary interest in the cargo, Mr Bowman said. He had previously been in the army, but left due to psychological issues. He had also worked in construction and with his father who was a butcher. Mr Ghabiri, allegedly part of the Dutch-Iranian cell, provided logistical support in the enterprise, Insp Young said Born in Tehran, his home was hit by a bomb from Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime. It killed his parents and his six siblings when he was nine-years-old, defence counsel Keith Spencer said. He was injured in the blast but survived, and was taken in by an uncle and other family members. He later suffered persecution and escaped Iran to Rotterdam in Holland, where he subsisted in a refugee centre. He worked menial jobs, picking tomatoes and flowers and cleaning toilets in the underground. He had very little education and his literacy was quite poor, Mr Spencer said. However, he was a skilled cook with a good work ethic and had subsequently worked in Spain as a chef. His sister had contracted cancer and needed support which was a factor in pushing him to take this job, Mr Spencer said. His guilty plea came very early and his involvement was not of someone at the upper echelons of this type of conspiracy, and he was not standing to profit a huge deal from it, Mr Spencer said. Childhood trauma Mr Sanz also suffered trauma in his childhood, defence barrister Elizabeth O'Connell said. Although he grew up in a middle class family, his father was an architect and his mother also had a good professional position, his parents split up very acrimoniously when he was 10 years old. He and his father moved to a small village outside Cádiz, and the relationship with his other parent 'ruptured' completely. He also lost all contact with his sister for 17 years. This was a huge trauma to Mr Sanz, and he was 'effectively let run wild' by his father as his sole guardian. Although he had a business bringing people out on boat trips to see dolphins, his early trauma and unstable childhood had 'disrupted' his life tragically. His seafaring knowledge led to his being asked by a Portuguese operative to ensure that the boat was operational and got to the water when needed, the court heard. He said he was to be paid €15,000 for the foiled Tragumna operation, but said he never received payment. Mr Sanz was 'not a person of means', and he rented an apartment with his wife who works in an airport. The Spanish were brought in as a "job lot", the defence barrister for Mr Chairi, Emmett Boyle, said. His client was employed as a subcontractor to fulfil a specific service and was not at management level, Mr Boyle said. Mr Chairi survived modestly in Malaga, and 'certainly does not live a lavish lifestyle,' Mr Boyle said. Mitigation in the men's sentence hearings will continue in the Special Criminal Court on Wednesday. Read More Bags of cocaine from cargo ship had GPS tags, Special Criminal Court hears
Irish Examiner
7 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Bags of cocaine from cargo ship had GPS tags, Special Criminal Court hears
GPS-tagged bags of cocaine, floating into Denmark's beaches, are believed to be linked to a foiled plot by 10 men arrested in West Cork to collect drugs from a ship called the Cool Explorer. A rigid inflatable boat (Rib), carrying three 300 horsepower engines and large quantities of fuel, tried to meet a Panama-flagged ship called the Cool Explorer off the UK coast in March 2024, the State alleges. That ship, a legitimate cargo vessel carrying legitimate cargo, was also believed to have been carrying at least 850kg of cocaine with a street value of between €58m and €59m. That cocaine was later washed into beaches near the Danish town of Sjællands Odde. The foiled alleged drug trafficking operation was intercepted by Irish authorities and 10 men were arrested for conspiracy to import drugs. Seven of the 10 men have now pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court. They are Dutch national Kiumaars Ghabiri, aged 52, Spanish nationals Mario Angel Del Rio Sanz, aged 45, of no fixed address, Juan Antonio Gallardo Barroso, aged 56, of no fixed address, Pedro Pablo Ojeda Ortega, aged 36, of Cadiz; Angel Serran Padilla, aged 40, of Malaga; Anuar Rahui Chairi, aged 42, of Marbella; and Serbian national Aleksander Milic, aged 46. Tessa White, prosecuting counsel for the State, said that an overview of the conspiracy would first be given at the Special Criminal Court for the seven men's sentence hearings. More detail will be heard on Tuesday. Inspector Joseph Young of Bandon Garda Station gave evidence in the Special Criminal Court on Monday. Investigation At a routine checkpoint at Gully outside Bandon on February 27, 2024, gardaí stopped a vehicle with two individuals — a foreign national and an Irish national. Gardaí noticed one of the men was 'nervous and evasive' and elected to carry out a search, and the men were subsequently brought to Bandon garda station, Insp Young said. A notepad was found in the vehicle, which contained an entry about a pier in Roscarbery in West Cork and a second pier called Dromadoon near Skibbereen. GPS coordinates for both were recorded. Six B&Bs were also noted, with the times of how long it would take to travel from each to the two piers. On March 12, 2024, gardaí received reports of suspicious activity at Tragumna pier in West Cork. Tragumna is between the two piers, which had their names and GPS coordinates recorded in the notebook. Tragumna is about 6k south of Skibbereen town and 15k from Leap village, the court heard. An articulated truck had been seen reversing down the pier, and a campervan and other vehicles were observed operating suspiciously nearby, Insp Young said. Gardaí were also monitoring two vehicles — a black Land Rover Discovery vehicle and a white campervan — initially seen outside a popular West Cork hotel. One man linked to the vehicles checked into the hotel on March 12 using a Rotterdam-based credit card. Gardaí suspected a criminal enterprise was working to import drugs at this stage, Insp Young said. Some weeks earlier, the Panamanian flagged Cool Explorer refrigerated cargo vessel left Ecuador destined for St Petersburg, Russia, due to arrive on March 17, 2024. The ship was a legitimate cargo vessel carrying legitimate cargo, Insp Young said. The ship was to pass by Lands End in the south of the UK around March, 12, 2024. On March 14 – 15, the Cool Explorer passed an area of Denmark called Sjællands Odde on the northwestern tip of the main island of Zealand. Some 840kg of cocaine, worth an estimated €58m to €59m was discovered subsequently washed up on beaches in the area. GPS units were attached to the bags of cocaine, which matched the coordinates used by the Cool Explorer, the court heard. Juan Antonio Gallardo arriving at Midleton Courthouse, Co Cork, last year. Picture: Larry Cummins Activity in Cork Three vehicles were observed by gardaí at Tragumna pier acting suspiciously after midnight on March 14. A campervan was observed leaving an Airbnb in the village of Leap and travelling towards Tragumna. The black Land Rover and the Bulgarian-registered blue Scalia articulated truck were also seen approaching the pier. At 5.10am, a black Rib was seen approaching the pier with people on board. The articulated truck had reversed down the pier just before the Rib's arrival. People alighted from three different vehicles, and then people from the rib and the pier began passing multiple hold all bags from the rib to the pier, Insp Young said. A trailer was then winched from the back of the articulated truck, and the Rib was loaded onto it. But the men 'had some difficulty' with the manoeuvre, and the back of the boat and its engines were 'still sticking out of the back' of the articulated truck after it was loaded. At 7.20am, the white campervan gardaí had been watching was interdicted. Five Spaniards — including four who have pleaded guilty — Mr Ortega, Mr Chairi, Mr Barroso, Mr Padilla and one Serbian, Mr Milic — were arrested from the vehicle. The rest of the 10 men were arrested minutes later at a second interdiction at Tragumna pier at 7.25am. The Rib was in the back of the Scania truck with the 'intention to rendezvous with the Cool Explorer', Ms White said. Insp Young agreed that this was for an 'at sea' drop off. The rendezvous was to take place close to the UK, Ms White said. The articulated truck had Bulgarian plates and was registered to a company in Northern Ireland which had a sister company in Bulgaria. The campervan had been hired from a legitimate company in the Armagh area. It was driven south by one of the accused who said he was going to Cork and Kerry with family for the week. The Land Rover had been stolen some months earlier in the UK, and had fake number plates. A 'significant amount' of high-end nautical clothing and nautical equipment and its receipts were seized from the vehicles and an AirBnB. It had been bought in a nautical shop in Cork city, a Decathlon in Belfast, and on the UK mainland. Dry suits and nautical technology, including thermal imaging binoculars, two-way radios, and Meridiam satellite phones, were seized. Some 50 devices were seized in total, including multiple phones. A high frequency detector, known as a boat detector to law enforcement, was also seized. Gary Delaney, a former naval officer, compiled a report on the Rib. It had three 300 horsepower Yamaha engines onboard and a very large quantity of fuel. Its control panels and radar dome — which are generally white — had been spray painted black or darkened, Insp Young said. While such a vessel would usually have lights to the front and rear — only one was present and was not very visible. VHF radio would usually be found on board, but this was not present. No radar reflector had been fitted, something which is usually standard in a vessel of that type. The purpose of the Rib seemed to be detecting while not being detected, Mr Delaney's report noted. A Garmin GPS device was on the Rib's console, and two additional handheld Garmin devices were found in Leap, which were also examined by Mr Delaney. Aleksander Milic arriving at Midleton Courthouse, Co Cork, last year. Picture: Larry Cummins He found that the Rib had been at Tragumna pier around 5am on March 12, 2024, which tallied with reports of suspicious activity there that morning. Some 27 waypoints — which record geographic coordinates to assist with navigation — were found in the console of the Rib. The waypoints showed that the Rib had made a 985k journey in just under 48 hours. It showed a travel path towards the Cool Explorer and that it changed its course twice to seemingly intercept the Cool Explorer's passage. This had been noted near Lizard Point off the south west coast of the UK, Ms White noted, where the RIB allegedly tried to meet the larger ship. But the boat then made its way back to Tragumna on March 14, the court heard. Sentence hearings, in front of Justice Karen O'Connor, Judge Sinéad Ní Chúlacháin, and Judge Marie Keane, are to continue at 10.30am tomorrow in the Special Criminal Court. But three men plan to contest the charge at trial. The only Irish national arrested as part of the operation, Sean Curran, aged 38, with an address at Carrickyheenan, Aughnacloy, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, is one of three men waiting for a trial date. He is on bail and is to appear again on Monday at the Special Criminal Court when a trial date may be set. Ali Ghasemi Mazidi, aged 50, with an address in the Netherlands, and Raul Tabares Garcia, aged 48, of Cadiz in Spain are to appear via videolink on Monday for a trial date. These three men's trials are expected to take some six to eight weeks. The 10 men are charged with conspiring with one another to import controlled drugs over €13,000 on dates between February 27 and March 14, 2024, both dates inclusive. The alleged offence is contrary to Section 15 B(1) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977. Gardaí arrested the 10 men in March last year during operations in the villages of Tragumna and Leap near Skibbereen in West Cork, where an off-road vehicle, camper van, articulated truck, and rigid inflatable boat were seized as part of the suspected drug smuggling operation. Read More Spanish man pleads guilty to conspiring to smuggle large quantity of drugs into Ireland
