Packed courtroom as defendants in cocaine haul case await decision on dismissal

Seven men were due to stand trial this week in connection with the 2.25 tonnes of cocaine seized from a Panamanian registered bulk cargo ship, the MV Matthew off the Cork coast in September 2023. Picture: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Extra chairs were needed to accommodate the volume of defendants and their various interpreters in connection with the biggest cocaine seizure in the history of the State, in a packed Special Criminal Court on Tuesday.

Seven men were due to stand trial this week in connection with the 2.25 tonnes of cocaine seized from a Panamanian registered bulk cargo ship, the MV Matthew off the Cork coast in September 2023.

Ukrainians Mykhailo Gavryk, aged 32, Vitaliy Vlasoi, aged 32, and Vitaliy Lapa, aged 61; Iranians Soheil Jelveh, aged 51, and Saeid Hassani, aged 39; Dutch national Cumali Ozgen, aged 49, and Filipino Harold Estoesta, aged 31, were before the three-judge, non-jury Special Criminal Court in Dublin for a trial that was expected to take four months.

But on Monday, defence barristers said they would be applying instead for all charges against the six men who were aboard the MV Matthew to be dismissed under Section 4E of the Criminal Procedure Act.

This Section 4E application is likely to take a number of days. If successful, the cases will be dismissed but if they fail, the trial can then commence.

All seven men looked tense as they sat in the overflowing defendant’s box, translators explaining the day’s proceedings over their shoulders.

The men were all casually dressed in sweatshirts and sports jackets.

Despite limited legal progress on Tuesday, Courtroom 11 in the Criminal Courts of Justice on Parkgate St in Dublin was packed with more than 25 lawyers and more than nine gardaí. Some psychology students also came to listen to proceedings.

Six men face the same three charges.

They face two drug sale or supply charges contrary to Sec 15A of Misuse Drugs Act 1977, one alleged to have occurred within Irish territorial waters and one alleged to have occurred outside Irish territorial waters.

The charges state that on September 24, 2023, the accused had cocaine worth €13,000 or more in their possession for sale or supply aboard the MV Matthew within the territorial sea of the State.

It is also alleged that they had cocaine worth €13,000 or more on board the MV Mattew at locations outside the State on dates between the 24th and 25th September 2023.

They are also charged with an offence involving participation in the activities of a criminal organisation contrary to Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 on September 24, 2023.

Another two men face slightly different charges in relation to the seizure and they have not applied to have their charges dismissed under Section 4E of the Criminal Procedures Act.