Man facing charges over alleged €60m West Cork drug trafficking suffers heart attack

Ali Ghasemi Mazidi is one of the ten men arrested in the West Cork villages of Tragumna and Leap in March 2024. He is contesting the charges

A file picture of Dutch man Ali Ghasemi Mazidi arriving for a previous court appearance at Bandon Courthouse, Co Cork. File picture: Dan Linehan

A man charged in connection with an alleged €60m cocaine trafficking conspiracy in West Cork suffered a heart attack days before he was due in court.

Ali Ghasemi Mazidi suffered a heart attack on Friday and he is scheduled to undergo bypass surgery later this week, defence barrister David Perry told the Special Criminal Court on Monday.

Mr Mazidi, a 50-year-old Iranian Dutch national with an address in Holland, was one of 10 men charged with conspiring to import controlled drugs on dates between February 27 and March 14, 2024, within the State.

Gardaí arrested the men in the villages of Tragumna and Leap in West Cork in March 2024, and seized a camper van, an articulated truck, a modified rigid inflatable boat (rib), a jeep, GPS devices, satellite phones, wetsuits, and more nautical equipment.

The modified rib, with equipment painted black to avoid detection and powerful engines, set off from West Cork and tried to meet a Panama-flagged ship called the Cool Explorer off the British coast in March 2024, the State alleged.

That ship, a legitimate cargo vessel carrying legitimate cargo, was also believed to have been carrying at least 850kg of cocaine with a street value of between €58m and €59m, which later washed into beaches near the Danish town of Sjaellands Odde.

A GPS device attached to the cocaine matched the co-ordinates of the Cool Explorer.

Three men are contesting the charges 

While seven of the men pleaded guilty to the conspiracy in West Cork, three men are contesting the charges.

These men — Mr Mazidi, Raul Tabares Garcia, aged 50, from Cadiz in Spain, and Sean Curran, GED 39, with an address at Carrickyheenan, Aughnacloy, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh — have a trial date currently scheduled for November 11, which is estimated to last for six weeks.

But Mr Perry said that it was very unlikely that Mr Mazidi would be able to stand trial then following his heart surgery.

Mr Perry said that there was also some delay in the analysis of data, including GPS data, and he was not sure whether it could be analysed before the November trial date.

Legal aid is being sought for these data analysis experts, which is proving to be a complicated and ongoing process, the court heard.

For these three reasons, the trial date in November looked like it may not be possible, Mr Perry said.

In the case of Mr Garcia, further phone data analysis was also required, the court heard.

Prosecution barrister Dean Kelly SC agreed that, given Mr Mazidi’s medical situation and the issues about disclosure, a two-week adjournment was reasonable.

Justice Caroline Biggs said that she would put the matter back for two weeks for mention but she would hold the November trial date for now.

Mr Mazidi did not appear in court. Mr Garcia appeared via videolink from prison wearing a navy zip-up top and with a long grey beard.

Mr Curran, the only Irish man arrested in connection with the alleged drug trafficking operation and the only defendant who was granted bail, appeared in court, sitting in the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin, wearing a navy hooded sweatshirt and jeans.

Seven of the ten men pleaded guilty

Seven of the 10 men pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court last year.

They are Dutch national Kiumaars Ghabiri, Spanish nationals Mario Angel Del Rio Sanz, of no fixed address, Juan Antonio Gallardo Barroso, of no fixed address, Pedro Pablo Ojeda Ortega, of Cadiz; Angel Serran Padilla, of Malaga; Anuar Rahui Chairi, of Marbella; and Serbian national Aleksander Milic.

10 men were arrested in West Cork in March 2024 in connection with the suspected drugs trafficking. Gardaí also seized a camper van, an articulated truck, a modified RIB, a jeep, GPS devices, satellite phones, wetsuits, and more nautical equipment. File picture

They were jailed for a combined 70 years in prison.

Due to guilty pleas and various mitigating factors, their headline sentences were reduced from 18 years each to sentences of eight, 10, and 11 years.

The men were aged between their late 20s and mid-50s.

The sophisticated conspiracy involved international criminal cells, including Dutch, Iranian and Spanish nationals, Judge Karen O’Connor said at sentencing at the Special Criminal Court last year.

But the international drug traffickers underestimated the high quality of gardaí and the alertness of a West Cork community, which together helped to foil a suspected attempt to smuggle more than €58m of cocaine through Ireland, the Special Criminal Court previously heard.