Men arrested in connection with €32.8m Cork drugs find appear in court over detention extension 

The men were not charged with anything. They are assisting the gardaí. But they are under arrest and they are detained, the judge said

Gardaí seized €32.8m worth of drugs seized in Co Cork on Friday. 

Two men arrested in connection with a €32.8m drugs find in Cork can be questioned until Wednesday after the State sought an extension to their detention.

Late on Saturday night, the two men appeared before a special sitting of the district court in Kerry.

The men, who have been detained under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, were brought to the court and dealt with separately and represented by their solicitors.

An application by Chief Superintendent Padraic Powell of the Kerry Division to remove the media was refused, but reporting restrictions not to identify the men, who have not been charged but are under arrest, were imposed.

The court sat from shortly before 8pm to just after 8.30pm. There was a very heavy garda presence with plain clothes members, as well as uniformed garda.

At the outset, Chief Supt Powell of the Kerry Division said he was aware some of the media were present and he asked Judge James McNulty to remove them from the court.

Judge McNulty said he understood the request, but said, "This is a court and under the constitution, justice must be administered in public with few exceptions.

"We are in a court in a public place. I don’t wish to exclude the media but I will be glad to impose reporting restrictions."

The judge said he would be happy to read the information in printed form, and he would be reading it, not broadcasting it.

The application was to extend the time of detention for some people who are under arrest.

"I will set parameters so that they still enjoy the presumption of innocence," he said.

The men were not charged with anything. They are assisting the gardaí. But they are under arrest and they are detained, he said.

They should not be identified. And there should be no indirect identification by place name, house name, or reference to address.

The applications were dealt with separately.

In the first application, the written information was handed into court and the judge read it silently for several minutes.

The judge then said it would be "prudent and proper" to allow the man's solicitor, Padraig O’Connell to also read the information.

The Chief Supt said he had no objection and time was allowed for this silent reading too.

Padraig O’Connell, solicitor, said he was formally objecting to the detention.

A lot of what was in the document "is speculative, open to interpretation, and not factual", Mr O’Connell said.

Very little related to his client, the solicitor added.

Judge McNulty said he was satisfied the Chief Supt comprehensively and in detail set out the crimes that are under investigation, the nature of the investigation, and the possible involvement of his client in the events that have given rise to this ongoing investigation.

Judge McNulty also noted "a considerable body of film footage and other evidence" is required to be put to the men.

In all circumstances, to be fair to the State and to his client, further time was required so that things might be put to him, the judge said.

A 72-hour extension to the detention seemed reasonable, he said, and the court was granting that.

The original detention did not expire until 10.30am Sunday, the judge said, and this new 72-hour detention period would apply from then.

Pat Mann, solicitor, represented the second man, also formally objected to the application for detention.

Judge McNulty granted this order too. There was quite a body of material to be put to Mr Mann’s client and the judge was satisfied the investigation is being conducted "in a diligent and expeditious manner", he said, granting the application in the case of the second man, also for 72 hours from Sunday morning.

The men were brought separately in two vans and led away separately.