Four more of 10 men charged in drugs case in Cork to face Special Criminal Court trial

Six other men — including one from Northern Ireland — who are also charged with the same offence of conspiring with others to import drugs have already been returned for trial to the Special Criminal Court

Ten men were arrested by gardaí last March during operations in the villages of Tragumna and Leap, near Skibbereen in West Cork, where a jeep, camper van, articulated truck, and rigid inflatable boat were seized as part of the suspected drug-smuggling operation.

Four more men accused of conspiring to import a large amount of controlled drugs into Ireland last year have had their cases transferred to the non-jury Special Criminal Court.

Ms Justice Melanie Greally, presiding, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Grainne Malone, on Tuesday granted an ex-parte application — where only one side is present in court — by the Director of Public Prosecutions to try the four men at the non-jury court.