GPS-tagged bags of cocaine, floating into Denmark’s beaches, are believed to be linked to a foiled plot by 10 men arrested in West Cork to collect drugs from a ship called the Cool Explorer.
A rigid inflatable boat (Rib), carrying three 300 horsepower engines and large quantities of fuel, tried to meet a Panama-flagged ship called the Cool Explorer off the UK coast in March 2024, the State alleges.
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.
That cocaine was later washed into beaches near the Danish town of Sjællands Odde.
The foiled alleged drug trafficking operation was intercepted by Irish authorities and 10 men were arrested for conspiracy to import drugs.
Seven of the 10 men have now pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court.
They are Dutch national Kiumaars Ghabiri, aged 52, Spanish nationals Mario Angel Del Rio Sanz, aged 45, of no fixed address, Juan Antonio Gallardo Barroso, aged 56, of no fixed address, Pedro Pablo Ojeda Ortega, aged 36, of Cadiz; Angel Serran Padilla, aged 40, of Malaga; Anuar Rahui Chairi, aged 42, of Marbella; and Serbian national Aleksander Milic, aged 46.
Tessa White, prosecuting counsel for the State, said that an overview of the conspiracy would first be given at the Special Criminal Court for the seven men’s sentence hearings. More detail will be heard on Tuesday.
Inspector Joseph Young of Bandon Garda Station gave evidence in the Special Criminal Court on Monday.
At a routine checkpoint at Gully outside Bandon on February 27, 2024, gardaí stopped a vehicle with two individuals — a foreign national and an Irish national.
Gardaí noticed one of the men was “nervous and evasive” and elected to carry out a search, and the men were subsequently brought to Bandon garda station, Insp Young said.
A notepad was found in the vehicle, which contained an entry about a pier in Roscarbery in West Cork and a second pier called Dromadoon near Skibbereen. GPS coordinates for both were recorded.
Six B&Bs were also noted, with the times of how long it would take to travel from each to the two piers.
On March 12, 2024, gardaí received reports of suspicious activity at Tragumna pier in West Cork.
Tragumna is between the two piers, which had their names and GPS coordinates recorded in the notebook.
Tragumna is about 6k south of Skibbereen town and 15k from Leap village, the court heard.
An articulated truck had been seen reversing down the pier, and a campervan and other vehicles were observed operating suspiciously nearby, Insp Young said.
Gardaí were also monitoring two vehicles — a black Land Rover Discovery vehicle and a white campervan — initially seen outside a popular West Cork hotel.
One man linked to the vehicles checked into the hotel on March 12 using a Rotterdam-based credit card.
Gardaí suspected a criminal enterprise was working to import drugs at this stage, Insp Young said.
Some weeks earlier, the Panamanian flagged Cool Explorer refrigerated cargo vessel left Ecuador destined for St Petersburg, Russia, due to arrive on March 17, 2024.
The ship was a legitimate cargo vessel carrying legitimate cargo, Insp Young said.
The ship was to pass by Lands End in the south of the UK around March, 12, 2024. On March 14 – 15, the Cool Explorer passed an area of Denmark called Sjællands Odde on the northwestern tip of the main island of Zealand.
Some 840kg of cocaine, worth an estimated €58m to €59m was discovered subsequently washed up on beaches in the area.
GPS units were attached to the bags of cocaine, which matched the coordinates used by the Cool Explorer, the court heard.
Juan Antonio Gallardo arriving at Midleton Courthouse, Co Cork, last year. Picture: Larry Cummins
Three vehicles were observed by gardaí at Tragumna pier acting suspiciously after midnight on March 14.
A campervan was observed leaving an Airbnb in the village of Leap and travelling towards Tragumna.
The black Land Rover and the Bulgarian-registered blue Scalia articulated truck were also seen approaching the pier.
At 5.10am, a black Rib was seen approaching the pier with people on board.
The articulated truck had reversed down the pier just before the Rib’s arrival.
People alighted from three different vehicles, and then people from the rib and the pier began passing multiple hold all bags from the rib to the pier, Insp Young said.
A trailer was then winched from the back of the articulated truck, and the Rib was loaded onto it.
But the men “had some difficulty” with the manoeuvre, and the back of the boat and its engines were “still sticking out of the back” of the articulated truck after it was loaded.
At 7.20am, the white campervan gardaí had been watching was interdicted. Five Spaniards — including four who have pleaded guilty — Mr Ortega, Mr Chairi, Mr Barroso, Mr Padilla and one Serbian, Mr Milic — were arrested from the vehicle.
The rest of the 10 men were arrested minutes later at a second interdiction at Tragumna pier at 7.25am.
The Rib was in the back of the Scania truck with the “intention to rendezvous with the Cool Explorer”, Ms White said. Insp Young agreed that this was for an “at sea” drop off.
The rendezvous was to take place close to the UK, Ms White said.
The articulated truck had Bulgarian plates and was registered to a company in Northern Ireland which had a sister company in Bulgaria.
The campervan had been hired from a legitimate company in the Armagh area. It was driven south by one of the accused who said he was going to Cork and Kerry with family for the week.
The Land Rover had been stolen some months earlier in the UK, and had fake number plates.
A “significant amount” of high-end nautical clothing and nautical equipment and its receipts were seized from the vehicles and an AirBnB.
It had been bought in a nautical shop in Cork city, a Decathlon in Belfast, and on the UK mainland.
Dry suits and nautical technology, including thermal imaging binoculars, two-way radios, and Meridiam satellite phones, were seized. Some 50 devices were seized in total, including multiple phones. A high frequency detector, known as a boat detector to law enforcement, was also seized.
Gary Delaney, a former naval officer, compiled a report on the Rib.
It had three 300 horsepower Yamaha engines onboard and a very large quantity of fuel. Its control panels and radar dome — which are generally white — had been spray painted black or darkened, Insp Young said.
While such a vessel would usually have lights to the front and rear — only one was present and was not very visible. VHF radio would usually be found on board, but this was not present. No radar reflector had been fitted, something which is usually standard in a vessel of that type.
The purpose of the Rib seemed to be detecting while not being detected, Mr Delaney’s report noted.
A Garmin GPS device was on the Rib’s console, and two additional handheld Garmin devices were found in Leap, which were also examined by Mr Delaney.
Aleksander Milic arriving at Midleton Courthouse, Co Cork, last year. Picture: Larry Cummins
He found that the Rib had been at Tragumna pier around 5am on March 12, 2024, which tallied with reports of suspicious activity there that morning.
Some 27 waypoints — which record geographic coordinates to assist with navigation — were found in the console of the Rib. The waypoints showed that the Rib had made a 985k journey in just under 48 hours.
It showed a travel path towards the Cool Explorer and that it changed its course twice to seemingly intercept the Cool Explorer’s passage.
This had been noted near Lizard Point off the south west coast of the UK, Ms White noted, where the RIB allegedly tried to meet the larger ship.
But the boat then made its way back to Tragumna on March 14, the court heard.
Sentence hearings, in front of Justice Karen O’Connor, Judge Sinéad Ní Chúlacháin, and Judge Marie Keane, are to continue at 10.30am tomorrow in the Special Criminal Court.
But three men plan to contest the charge at trial.
The only Irish national arrested as part of the operation, Sean Curran, aged 38, with an address at Carrickyheenan, Aughnacloy, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, is one of three men waiting for a trial date.
He is on bail and is to appear again on Monday at the Special Criminal Court when a trial date may be set.
Ali Ghasemi Mazidi, aged 50, with an address in the Netherlands, and Raul Tabares Garcia, aged 48, of Cadiz in Spain are to appear via videolink on Monday for a trial date.
These three men’s trials are expected to take some six to eight weeks.
The 10 men are charged with conspiring with one another to import controlled drugs over €13,000 on dates between February 27 and March 14, 2024, both dates inclusive.
The alleged offence is contrary to Section 15 B(1) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977.
Gardaí arrested the 10 men in March last year during operations in the villages of Tragumna and Leap near Skibbereen in West Cork, where an off-road vehicle, camper van, articulated truck, and rigid inflatable boat were seized as part of the suspected drug smuggling operation.