A 45-year-old man extradited from Spain to Britain has been charged over one of the largest ever drugs seizures in Ireland.
Stephen Brown was remanded in custody following a brief appearance at Westminster Magistrates Court in London.
The suspect, accused of conspiring to smuggle €440m of high grade consignment of cocaine into the UK, will face trial in the Crown Court later this year.
The charge alleges he plotted with Michael Joseph Daly and Alan John Wells to supply 1,500kg of the drug to dealers across Britain.
The trafficking plot fell apart as a gang loaded 62 bales of cocaine on to a rigid inflatable boat in the sea off Mizen Head in west Cork in July 2007.
Court officials said Mr Brown, who is of no fixed abode, was remanded in custody to appear again before Southwark Crown Court on 3 July.
Mr Brown was flown from Madrid to Heathrow yesterday after being detained in Spain on a European arrest warrant.
The smuggling plan foundered as the bales of drugs were being transferred in Dunlough Bay from a catamaran called the Lucky Day onto a smaller boat.
But the engines on the RIB cut out after one of the gang put diesel instead of petrol into the powerful outboard motors and the boat capsized in heavy seas.
The cocaine was found to have a purity level of more than 75% and was traced to the Medellin area of Colombia.
Four gang members are serving sentences in Ireland relating to the seizure ranging from ten to 30 years, while another two were jailed for 14 and 30 years in Britain.
