Man charged after €4m cocaine seizure in Cork denied bail to set up a business
Gentjan Dodaj said that he “would never leave Ireland in one million years” if granted bail. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
A man who was charged following a €4.2m cocaine seizure in Cork has appealed for bail to set up a business to support his young family.
Gentjan Dodaj, age 39, of Paradise Road, Athlone, Co. Westmeath, an Albanian national, said that he “would never leave Ireland in one million years” if granted bail. He told Cork District Court that he was applying for bail to finish setting up a business to provide for his pregnant partner and two children.
If granted bail, he said he would “1,000,000%” turn up in court for his next hearing on the major drugs charge, which could bring a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. “He accepts there’s an inevitable outcome but he is asking for bail to get his affairs in order, to set up a business to provide for his family in the future,” his solicitor, Shane Collins Daly, said.
Mr Dodaj had been in Ireland for 17 years after first coming to the country as an asylum seeker aged 22 when he lived in direct provision. He is one of three men accused of possession of cocaine and possession of cocaine for sale or supply on August 5 in Richmond, Dunkettle, Co. Cork.
It is alleged that 60kg of the drug was seized following a major Garda and Revenue Commissioners operation. Mr Dodaj was allegedly asked to go to Cork by people he feared. He said that he was being paid between €4,000 and €6,000 to transport the cocaine.
Mr Dodaj said he only did it because he needed the money. “If I get bail I go home, that’s it,” Mr Dodaj said.
Detective Garda Gavin Curran told the court that Mr Dodaj and two other men were under surveillance when they were observed at a transport storage yard in the Dunkettle area of Cork allegedly removing panels from a container.
It is alleged that the men had waited for the container to arrive at the Port of Cork in Ringaskiddy and followed it to the transport storage yard after its legitimate load was removed.
Wearing masks and armed with tools including ratchets, the three men then allegedly removed two panels from either side of the container in the early morning of August 5 where three bags of cocaine were allegedly removed from self-made concealment chambers within the panels. The empty panels were then allegedly replaced on the container.
The three men were observed by gardaí leaving the scene in a transit van and a Ford Mondeo, driving in convoy, with Mr Dodaj who was applying for bail, driving the car.
Three bags of cocaine weighing some 60kg with a street value of some €4.2m were allegedly seized by gardaí a short time later from the transit van, found stashed under a seat compartment and in the back of the van. Ratchets which fit the bolts on the container panel from which the cocaine was allegedly removed were also found in a vehicle during the garda search, Det. Gda Curran said.
Gardaí objected to bail on multiple grounds, including the seriousness of the crime which on conviction could carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. As an Albanian national with alleged links to transnational networks, gardaí also alleged that Mr Dodaj could be a flight risk.
And an organized crime group which lost that much money in a drug seizure would likely pressurize the defendant to work for them to recoup some of their losses, Det. Gda Curran said. In his experience, “immense” pressure can be put on people to recoup earnings for organised crime groups when there was a drug seizure of this magnitude, he said.
“I’m satisfied that he will re-offend if released,” he said. The strength of the evidence — on which Mr Dodaj was allegedly caught ‘red handed’ — was another reason for gardaí’s objection to bail, Det. Gda Curran said.
But Mr Collins Daly told the court that his client was applying for bail to finish setting up a car valeting business which had “gone further than a notional aspiration”. “He’s registered the business, obtained insurance and signed a long-term lease,” Mr Collins Daly said.
Mr Dodaj would be willing to sign on at a garda station twice a day, reside at his home address, obey a curfew and sign a significant independent surety if granted bail, Mr Collins Daly said.
Mr Dodaj’s Irish partner, who is pregnant with their third child, appeared in court to support him. Although the couple live separately, Mr Dodaj is “fully involved” in his children’s lives, Mr Collins Daly said.
Mr Collins Daly said that his client understands the seriousness of the crime he has been charged with and “was never in trouble until this allegation”. Mr Dodaj would not re-offend if released on bail, he has “substantial ties” to the community and he would not be a flight risk, Mr Collins Daly said.
Mr Collins Daly said:
“He left Albania as an asylum seeker 17 years ago. He would say that he is not a flight risk. The fact that he is from Albania is not grounds for not granting bail.”
Mr Dodaj said under questioning that his two reasons for wanting bail were to finish setting up his business and to be there for the pregnant mother of his third child. He said he had “paid everything” for his new business, had signed a five-year lease, and was just waiting for workers to return from holidays to open it.
He said that he has not lied to gardaí and co-operated fully with questioning. He said that he was being paid between €4,000 and €6,000 and his job was to collect and transport the drugs — “nothing else.”
“You seem a bit blasé about this,” Sergeant Gearóid Davis said. “This is €4.2m of cocaine. You had a vital role in transporting this to wherever it was going. Isn’t that enough?”
Judge John King denied Mr Dodaj’s bail application on a number of grounds, including the seriousness of the charge. He was remanded back to custody and is due before court for Director of Public Prosecution directions on September 4.
Another two men were also charged following the €4.2m cocaine bust, including Mr Dodaj’s brother, Donatel Dodaj, 22, who the court previously heard had arrived in the State in recent weeks and was staying with his brother.
Daniel Afedoaei, 22, a Romanian national, of Sli an Aifrinn in Athlone was previously remanded in custody in Cork Prison along with Donatel Dodaj until August 28 for DPP directions.
The three men are accused of possession of cocaine and possession of cocaine for sale or supply on August 5 in Richmond, Dunkettle, Co. Cork. It is alleged that 60kg of the drug was seized following a major Garda and Revenue Commissioners/Customs and Excise operation.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
