Eight men have been jailed for between 13 and a half and 20 years for their roles in trying to smuggle 2.2 tonnes of cocaine, worth over €157m, the largest cocaine seizure in Irish history.
The drugs were seized following a joint garda, customs and Defence Forces operation in September 2023 after army rangers forcibly boarded a cargo ship at sea.
Six were hired in Dubai by a transnational organised crime group before flying to South America for the international trafficking operation.
They were arrested on the MV Matthew, ignored instructions from LÉ William Butler Yeats - a Naval Service vessel - five times and tried to burn the drugs on board.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Two other men bought a boat - the Castlemore - in Castletownbere, Co Cork to collect the drugs from the mothership, but it ran aground off the Wexford coast and they had to be rescued by the Coast Guard.
Ukrainians Mykhailo Gavryk and Vitaliy Vlasoi, who are both 32, Iranian nationals 51-year-old Soheil Jelveh, 39-year-old Saeid Hassani, 31-year-old Filipino Harold Estoesta and 49-year-old Cumali Ozgen, who is from the Netherlands, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for sale or supply on board the MV Matthew between 24 and 26 September 2023.
62-year-old Vitaliy Lapa, who is also from Ukraine, with an address at Rudenko, Repina Str in Berdyansk, and 31-year-old Jamie Harbron, of South Avenue, Billingham in the UK, pleaded guilty to attempting to possess cocaine for sale or supply between 21 and 25 September 2023.
The gang communicated on WhatsApp groups and was directed by a transnational organised crime group, based in Dubai, which Detective Superintendent Keith Halley told the court had "immense capabilities, unlimited resources and a global reach".
"It operated a cell structure so if one cell was compromised, the damage to the organisation was limited," he said.
The MV Matthew was given clear instructions to evade law enforcement up to the time the helicopter with the Army Rangers arrived.
The messages included reassurances such as "just relax and this will all be over soon", "I spoke with Happy, don't worry everything seems to be nice", and "once you're out and away mate".
They were also told erroneously that the Irish authorities could not board the vessel in international waters and tried to evade capture by heading for Sierra Leone.
We need your consent to load this Datawrapper contentWe use Datawrapper to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Dutch national Cumali Ozgen, who was known as Jimmy, "was the cartel’s man on the ship" and described as "the eyes and ears of the criminal organisation on board".
He was in phone contact with someone in Dubai every three days and accommodated in the prestigious "pilot’s cabin" in spite of the fact that he had no sea experience.
He had no other function on board but to correspond with someone outside and was in line for a €50,000 bonus upon completion of the operation.
There were 15 other people on the ship who were part of the crew but had no part in the operation.
Ozgen helped load the drugs on to the vessel, moved them while on board and provided the paint thinner to burn them.
While the drugs were being loaded by armed men in South America, they were distracted and supplied with drink at a barbecue.
Captain of the ship, Soheil Jelveh, who was a qualified maritime engineer, admitted that he was aware the consignment was not "spare parts" but said that he took instructions and did what he was told.
However, he said he was in fear and they could kill him or his family in Dubai at any time.
He also said that "Jimmy, the Dutch guy" had been put on board to kill him so he stayed in his room.
He became ill and was winched off the ship by the Coast Guard before it was boarded and seized, and was found with two suitcases, four phones including a satellite and encrypted phone and $57,000 in cash.
Gardaí accepted that he contrived the illness to get off the vessel and took the money as payment for his work. He has no previous convictions.
Gavryk was a second officer on board and had been a seaman all his life.
He admitted he moved drugs on the ship and although he gave his phone and PIN number to gardaí, the contents had largely been deleted.
He said he followed instructions from others and gardaí accepted he knew the least about the operation.
Estoesta and Vlasoi engaged with LÉ Eithne and although they appeared to comply with the instructions to head for Cork port, they took the ship towards international waters.
They were encouraged to defy these instructions.
"You talk at them, you tell them they are endangering our crew," they were told.
Estoesta said: "We would like to cooperate, we are afraid, we will go away because you fire on us, my crew is now panicking", as they continued to try to flee.
They were told to switch off the radio and set fire to the drugs if a helicopter approached.
Two Air Corps helicopters did - one to monitor and one with the Army Ranger wing.
"Quick thinking, rapid action and no small amount of courage" on behalf of the rangers resulted in them boarding the ship, stopping the drugs being burned and detaining the crew, Ms Justice Melanie Greally said.
Harbron claimed the Castlemore was making a two-night trip to the UK and he was grateful to the Coast Guard for rescuing him.
Lapa refused to provide gardaí with his PIN number but specialists accessed it with incriminating messages.
He had signed the papers for the boat but denied it was for drug trafficking.
We need your consent to load this Datawrapper contentWe use Datawrapper to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Jelveh denied owning the third phone with the incriminating messages which he said was the "ship's phone".
He accepted that he was captain of the MV Matthew and got involved through a friend in Dubai.
He said Ozgen was in charge and had been put on board to kill him.
Jelveh, an Iranian national married with two adult children, completed a bachelor’s course in Iran and lectured in marine.
He said he is finding prison lonely and difficult and is unlikely to receive visits in future.
He has undertaken a large number of courses and has written a lengthy letter of apology
Vlasoi said he signed a four-year contract with Symphony Marine and originally claimed the cargo was spare parts, but later accepted he knew it was suspect.
He is from Odessa in Ukraine, has one child, no previous convictions and has expressed remorse.
His wife described him as a caring father and good provider and spoke about the impact of his absence on their life and his five-year-old daughter.
Ozgen said he was paid to cook, clean and maintain provisions on the vessel and that he remained below deck throughout.
However, he later accepted that he knew illegal cargo was involved and was due up to "100k" of a bonus if he got the job done.
He is a divorced Dutch national with no previous convictions. His 27-year-old son has undergone cancer surgery and the court heard he took "risky choices" to pay health bills.
Gavryk studied for four years in Odessa and worked as a deck cadet.
Since his incarceration, he has been active in education and completed a wide range of courses.
He has expressed his remorse and regret.
Estoesta, a Filipino national, said he was hired as second officer after posting information on the internet.
He comes from a highly respectable service family and his father and uncles have served his country with distinction. He excelled academically at marine academy.
His fiancée described him as helpful, caring and compassionate.
Hassani is an Iranian with no previous convictions. He is married with a seven-year-old daughter and is the primary earner whom his family, sister and mother are dependent on.
He attended mariners college and received a bachelor’s degree.
Harbron, a British national, has a nine-year-old son and nine previous convictions, two for drugs offences.
He attended sports college after school and a report indicated a "challenging attitude" to authorities.
Lapa, a Ukranian, has no previous convictions. He is a married man with an 18-year-old son. His hometown of Burdyansk is under occupation.
Their son is attending maritime university and the family are at risk of losing their home because of Lapa's absence.
He has much experience within the fishing industry, including skills in navigation weather and safety.
Watch: Ireland 'not a soft target' for transnational organised criminal networks, gardaí say
Ms Justice Greally said the fact that the attempted importation of the drugs was part of the activity of a cartel was a significant aggravating factor.
She said the organisation has an international reach with unlimited resources and the case was one where exceptional circumstances apply in the case of sentencing.
It was, the judge said, the largest cocaine seizure in the history of the State.
She said the court considered the vast quantity, as well as the value and type of drug, as cocaine is a highly addictive substance.
"Its liberal availability is causing widespread harm and dysfunction."
The organised crime group, the judge said, was able to purchase two costly vessels and the possibility of a fast boat, its technical ability with Starlink Wi-Fi, encryption software and "spoofing" whereby they disguised their route and location at sea.
"The case is at a level of seriousness that it must fall within the exceptional and egregious circumstances," she said.
The court accepted the men were not part of the upper echelons of the organised crime group, but pointed out that each had a high range of expertise at sea and international drug trafficking cannot take place without this.
Ms Justice Greally described them as cogs which drive international smuggling and said they had "proven competence, a high level of trust and each was committed to and invested in the success of the venture".
The court took a range of individual mitigating factors into account including the men's guilty pleas, their personal circumstances, their behaviour and achievements in prison, expressions of remorse and regret and the hardships of serving a sentence abroad.
Soheil Jelveh was sentenced to 17 and a half years in prison.
Cumali Ozgen was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Mykhailo Gavryk was sentenced to 14 years in prison
Harold Estoesta was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Vitaliy Vlasoi was sentenced to 16 and a half years in prison.
Saeid Hassani was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Jamie Harbron was sentenced to 13 and a half years in prison.
Vitaliy Lapa was sentenced to 14 and a half years in prison
The court commended the professionalism and competence of the Joint Task Force on Drugs Interdiction, the courage and skill of the army rangers, the thoroughness of the garda investigation, and the skill with which the evidence was presented, as well as the Customs Service.
Gardaí said the sentences imposed on the eight men provide a clear message to international drug traffickers that Ireland is not a soft target for transnational organised crime gangs.
Detective Superintendent Joe O'Reilly, from the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, said this and other operations "clearly demonstrate that all agencies of the State, along with international partners, will work together to disrupt and dismantle criminal networks".
"To those involved in drug trafficking, the message is clear, the full force of the Irish State, supported by our international partners is against you.
"The reality facing you is security interdictions, special investigations, the Special Criminal Court, lengthy sentences and asset seizure."
