Man charged in connection with €440m cocaine haul

A 45-year-old man extradited from Spain has been charged in connection with the largest-ever drugs haul in Ireland.

Stephen Brown was remanded in custody following a brief appearance at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London, court officials confirmed.

Brown, accused of conspiring to smuggle a €440m high-grade consignment of cocaine into the UK, will face trial in the British Crown Court.

The charge alleges that he plotted to supply 1,500kg of the drug to dealers across Britain.

The trafficking plot fell apart as a gang loaded 62 bales of cocaine weighing more than 3,300lb (1,500kg) onto a rigid inflatable boat in the Atlantic swells off Mizen Head in south-west Cork in July 2007.

Court officials said Brown, of no fixed address and who was brought to London from Spain yesterday morning, was remanded in custody to appear again before Southwark Crown Court on July 3.