‘Go like f**k mate': How the MV Matthew ship and a €157 million drugs haul was seized
Vitaliy Lapa and Jamie Harbron were exhausted, sick and terrified as their ship, the Castlemore, lost power and lost communication in a storm off the Irish coast.
Harbron, a drug user from Billingham near Middlesbrough in the northeast of England with no seafaring background, had taken the job to help pay a debt. He had been sick since they boarded two days earlier.
Lapa (62), the captain and an experienced fisherman from Ukraine, hadn't wanted to use the Castlemore, an Irish ship, for this mission. But under pressure from a
Dubai
-based criminal who was paying for the vessel, he had agreed to take charge.
The plan was that they would meet up with the MV Matthew, a larger bulk carrier that had been loaded with 2.2 tonnes of cocaine on its voyage across the Atlantic. But with no power, wifi or communications, and little clue what they were doing, Lapa and Harbron failed to make the rendezvous and ran aground near the
Wexford
coast on September 24th, 2022.
READ MORE
Further details of how the MV Matthew came to be in Irish waters emerged in evidence before the
Special Criminal Court
during this week's sentencing hearing of eight men who have pleaded guilty to offences arising from the seizure of €157 million worth of drugs on board the bulk carrier.
Like Lapa and Harbron on the Castlemore, the crew of the MV Matthew were suffering too on their journey across the Atlantic in September 2022.
They had left
Venezuela
early that month but some on board were surprised when, a few days into the voyage, they stopped to take on what they were told were spare parts.
Harold Estoesta, a 31-year-old Filipino and the second officer on the MV Matthew, later described to
gardaí
how the cargo was loaded from another boat by crane after ordinary members of the crew had been plied with alcohol.
Estoesta's concerns were heightened, he said, when he saw the crew of the other boat armed with guns. When he expressed misgivings, he was told he would get a bonus to keep his concerns to himself.
The Naval Service considered using the deck-mounted gun to fire on the MV Matthew but paused when they learned the Army rangers were on their way
Soheil Jelveh (52), an Iranian, was the captain of the MV Matthew but he told gardaí that his instructions came from a figure in Dubai, referred to as Captain Noah. Jelveh had retired as a sea captain in 2019 to prioritise his work as a soccer coach and it was through coaching that he came into contact with individuals from Dubai.
His own barrister counsel told the court this week that these people 'wined and dined him' and promised to help him to buy a sports bar in the Emirate city, where he could live with his family.
They brought his wife and son to Dubai as part of the deal. But with Jelveh at sea, he would claim that he began to feel he had been 'violated'. He worried about his family in Dubai and said that he came to believe that the Dubai 'cartel' had placed one of the crew on board to kill him.
As the MV Matthew crossed the Atlantic, preparations were under way in Ireland. A man referred to as a 'person of interest' in the investigation, who has since moved to Dubai, met Lapa in Newry.
They picked up Harbron in Dublin and travelled to Castletownbere in west Cork to meet a man who had advertised the Castlemore for sale.
But Lapa wasn't happy.
The engine did not have the capacity or speed for what was required, he complained. The seller of the vessel would tell gardaí that despite Lapa's concerns, his companion from Dubai ordered him to buy the boat.
A wifi router was placed on board so Lapa and Harbron could communicate with people onshore and use a group chat for further instructions from Dubai.
The Castlemore set out from the south coast on Friday, September 22nd with regular communications about where, when and how it would receive the cargo from the MV Matthew. Four to six 'jumbo bags' would be lowered by rope.
'It be a lot but just go like f**k mate. Tuck away. Proportion it on each side so balanced,' one message read.
By Saturday, the weather was getting stormier and so was Jelveh's mood. It became apparent that the Castlemore was having problems getting on the internet and couldn't communicate. The Castlemore missed the first rendezvous and the winds grew stronger.
Jelveh sent messages to the group saying the drop would not be possible because of the weather and he complained about trying to meet another vessel in the Irish Sea.
'You will drag me all the way here in the storm. Here it is not possible. I begged you to go to the Mediterranean ... low pressure here all the time,' he said in one message.
Captain Noah finally had enough and messaged the crew to say he was taking over.
'Please comply with all instructions,' he said.
On the afternoon of September 24th, the Castlemore, having run aground, sent a distress call to the coast guard.
The MV Matthew was monitoring the frequencies and by midnight they were exchanging messages about the stricken Castlemore. But the Dubai organisation was not deterred. They deleted the Castlemore phone from the group chat and told the MV Matthew crew to expect a different boat.
Jelveh had had enough. He contacted the lifeguard requesting a medical evacuation and a helicopter came to airlift him away. He brought with him two suitcases. When gardaí searched them, they found mobile phones and a satellite phone with incriminating communications between the MV Matthew, the Castlemore and Dubai. They also found more than $52,000 (€45,500) in cash.
The phones confirmed for gardaí that the drugs were still on board the MV Matthew and they decided it was time to move.
At 4.52am on September 26th, the Naval Service vessel, the LE William Butler Yeats, approached the MV Matthew and ordered it to proceed to port.
The MV Matthew responded that they had engine difficulties and would be remaining at anchor for two days while Estoesta relayed everything that was said back to the organised crime group in Dubai.
The Dubai organisation provided inaccurate AI-generated legal advice telling the MV Matthew that the Irish authorities were not allowed to board.
'Don't lose confidence,' the Dubai-based gang said.
At 12.11pm, it became apparent the MV Matthew was not moving towards Cork but was heading for international waters. An
Irish Naval
Service commander took over and the LE William Butler Yeats officially became a warship. The commander escalated the warnings and fired three times.
Estoesta responded by saying the crew have families and 'don't like problems'.
'We don't like problems either,' the commander responded. 'We want you to comply with our instructions.'
[
Cocaine cited as main drug in almost two-fifths of cases needing treatment
Opens in new window
]
The Naval Service considered using the deck-mounted gun to fire on the MV Matthew but paused when they learned the Army rangers were on their way.
Estoesta reported the warning shots to Dubai and was initially told to keep the drugs on board and 'go full speed'.
As it became clear the naval vessel was not letting them go, the order came to put the drugs in a lifeboat, set them on fire and head for Sierra Leone in west Africa.
'We don't want a single dollar profit ... we don't want you to go to jail for nothing,' came the message from Dubai.
They told Estoesta to stay calm. There was, they said, 'no helicopter, no commando, be confident, there is a law preventing them boarding the ship'.
Estoesta ordered the crew to set the drugs on fire using diesel, gasoline or paint thinners.
Some of the cocaine seized from the MV Matthew. Photograph: An Garda Siochana/PA Wire
From Dubai, another message read: 'Don't let them communicate with you. Put the lifeboat on fire and f**k it. Otherwise, good luck.'
Estoesta was following the orders from Dubai when a helicopter appeared. He photographed it and uploaded the image to the group. But there was no more advice from Dubai.
Using rope ladders, the rangers climbed down to the ship while the MV Matthew manoeuvred in an unsuccessful bid to prevent them safely boarding.
Det Supt Keith Halley would tell the Special Criminal Court that it took 'great bravery' for the soldiers to board.
They extinguished the fire, preserving the cocaine for evidence and displayed their wide-ranging skill when one of the rangers, an experienced seaman, steered the vessel to Cork harbour.
[
Irish Army rangers risked their lives in boarding cargo ship carrying cocaine, court hears
Opens in new window
]
Eight men now face lengthy prison sentences for their roles in the attempted shipment of €157 million worth of cocaine across the Atlantic.
Ukrainians Mykhailo Gavryk (32) and Vitaliy Vlasoi (33); Iranians Soheil Jelveh (52) and Saeid Hassani (40); Filipino Harold Estoesta (31) and Dutch national Cumali Ozgen (50) have pleaded guilty to charges that between September 24th and 26th, 2023, at locations outside the State, on board the MV Matthew they possessed cocaine for sale or supply, in contravention of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations.
Ukrainian national Vitaliy Lapa (62), with an address at Rudenka, Repina Str in Berdyansk, and Jamie Harbron (31) of South Avenue, Billingham in the UK have pleaded guilty that between September 21st and 25th, 2023 they attempted to possess cocaine for sale or supply, in contravention of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
The operation to intercept the shipment was part of a transnational effort targeting international criminal organisations, Det Supt Halley told the court this week. Several people of interest remain under investigation.
[
How cocaine became Ireland's biggest drug problem
Opens in new window
]
Ms Justice Melanie Greally, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Gráinne Malone, in the Special Criminal Court will deliver the men's sentences on July 4th.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Nine-figure payouts to Ryanair and Starbucks CEOs are controversial, but Michael O'Leary can point to results
Michael O'Leary has hit his target. Ryanair 's share price stayed above €21 for 28 days, earning him a €125 million bonus if he stays until 2028. The deal has its critics. 'Morally questionable,' said Luke Hildyard of the High Pay Centre, a UK think tank. Others argue such payouts reward luck more than leadership, with cheap oil, index inclusion and billions in share buybacks all helping lift Ryanair's stock. O'Leary might counter that Ryanair shares have more than doubled since the deal was struck in 2019, comfortably outperforming rival airlines. Contrast that with Starbucks , where Brian Niccol was handed a reported $113 million sign-on package last August to replace embattled CEO Laxman Narasimhan. Shares soared 25 per cent on the news, adding $21 billion in market value. READ MORE [ Corporate tax receipts drop 30% as Trump's tariffs bite Opens in new window ] Since then, Starbucks has slashed head office jobs, trimmed menus and promised a return to its coffeehouse roots. But the results remain bitter. Margins and profits are down. Competition remains fierce in China. The stock tanked after last month's earnings miss and has now given up almost all of its Niccol bump. Niccol may yet prove his worth – his turnaround of Chipotle is textbook stuff – but the caffeine hit investors got from his arrival has faded fast. O'Leary, never one to miss a jab, might well look at Starbucks and say: at least I had to do something to get my millions.
Irish Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Swashbuckling giant Kyle Hayes divides opinion like no other GAA star
Of all the high-profile residents holding deeds to one of those prized condos on hurling's Main Street, none comes close to Kyle Hayes in their ability to ignite a wildfire. On or off the pitch, Hayes is the preferred accelerant for social media arsonists seeking to set the online world ablaze. Drop his name — his genius as a sportsman trailed by his deeply unsavoury past — into a conversation and, typically, it has the effect of a Molotov cocktail. Neither the game's alley fighters nor its most dementedly combative figures, not even Ireland's dean of the perpetually highly-strung, the hyper-emotional Davy Fitzgerald, can set summer so instantly aflame as Limerick's skyscraping five-time Allstar. That he was back in court less than 24 hours after last month's Man of the Match masterclass against today's Munster final opponents Cork reconfigured the entire All-Ireland debate, was a reminder of how the threads of his two lives have become so inextricably knotted. And of how seeking to disentangle one from the other will remain an exercise in futility for as long as the Kildimo Pallaskenry leviathan remains a lead player on championship Broadway. The swashbuckling giant who led the shattering undressing of the Rebels, whose blistering impact on the long days has exhausted the pundits' store of superlatives, co-habits with the author of an infinitely more sinister off-field backstory. A five time All-Ireland winner; a young man who avoided jail after receiving a two-year suspended sentence on two counts of violent disorder inside and outside a nightclub in Limerick in 2019. He was later ordered to do 180 hours community service. Ironically, the more successful Hayes is at invading the vital moments in Limerick's mission to reclaim their status as the alpha males on the hurling landscape, the higher the volume is turned up on the chorus of outrage. When he is awarded a Man of the Match or, as he was last season, an Allstar (the awards entirely justified by on-field displays, the lone criteria the judging panels are empowered to assess), the condemnation screeches to a deafening crescendo. There are two constituencies feeding the frenzy. The first and the loudest are the social media attack dogs who instantly scramble for the high moral ground every time a controversy arises, their arguments shrill and one-dimensional and lacking nuance or perspective. But there are others, often compassionate, empathetic individuals, who are nonetheless alarmed that an individual found guilty of violent disorder, who has never expressed remorse and who received just 180 hours community service even after breaching the terms of his original sentence, retains a starring role in one of Ireland's most high-profile cultural celebrations. Their reasoning is more subtle, more heartfelt and not so easily dismissed. Some commentators in a counter-argument believe it irrational to hold athletes up as moral exemplars, that once the courts have spoken, life must go on. Even if it is an entirely logical assertion, it ignores the extreme emotions involved. That Hayes is able to shut out all the white noise each time he plays, that he shows no sign of surrendering his place at the centre of the hurling world even while finding himself surrounded by such ceaseless tumult, is, of itself, quite remarkable. At 6'5', his physique as muscular and streamlined and carrying the same sense of majesty as the thoroughbreds who will contest today's Epsom Derby, he is the Platonic ideal of an athlete so often imagined by ancient Greek sculptors. He has maybe the greatest arsenal of gifts - the pulverising power and torque of an Airbus A330, an Apache helicopter's lift and nimble manoeuvrability, a B-52 bomber's deadly payload of obliterating missiles — of anybody who has played the game. Cork, propelled into that recent round-robin tie on a tide of anticipation, departed less than two hours later nursing the kind of traumas that must have invaded their night time imaginings ever since. With Hayes rampant, Limerick were again a force of invincible self-belief, a reborn team delivering perhaps the magnum opus of John Kiely's star-spangled reign. In full flight and fizzing like a well-fletched arrow across a rectangle of grass, their number six offered a jolting reminder of why he rates among sport's most arresting and magnificent vistas. Watching again the footage of his wonder goal against Tipp in the 2021 Munster final, different elements of his jinking, jaw-dropping solo gallop — a run at once thunderous and balletic — evoke Lamine Yamal, Rudolph Nureyev, Roger Federer, the Road Runner confounding Wile E Coyote, a Lamborghini Aventador and an 18-wheel juggernaut. Tipp's defence appear as helpless as traffic cops trying to stop a runaway buffalo from breaking a red light. The fever of excitement surrounding Hayes that afternoon, his capacity to deliver such irresistible moments, was a key component in Limerick's four-in-a-row champions announcing their separation from the rest of the field. His success in combining demonic intensity with flourishes of artistic beauty in the most recent meeting with Cork — the player exhibiting what one Joe DiMaggio biographer describes as a 'glint of godhood' — strengthens the arguments of those who are happy to declare the 26-year-old the greatest hurler in the country. He is unquestionably the most divisive. If Hayes has one or two rivals for the title of Ireland's most influential hurler — led by his Limerick teammate, the lyrical master conductor Cian Lynch — he is unrivalled as the most contentious. Ahead of tonight's rematch, there will be discussion of a sporting life bejewelled by achievement, a freakish talent who combines an engraver's touch with the kind of physical dimensions that might eclipse the sun. As he swatted the Rebels aside 20 days ago, a rampaging Hayes had Dónal Óg Cusack flicking through the history books in search of a meaningful reference point. 'This Limerick we ever seen a better team than them? What a machine they looked, so well engineered, resilient, strong, every part is working and up for the fight everywhere.' Anthony Daly was just as effusive: 'Hayes is like a gazelle. It's not just his breaking out, it's the tackling, it's the handling at the last second, it's the whole package he gives you there at six.' 'Hayes is the leader of this Limerick team,' was the unequivocal verdict of Ger Loughnane's one-time sideline Sancho Panza, Tony Considine. Many, horrified by the court case that put Hayes on the front pages, look at his story from a different angle, declining to see beyond the self-inflicted wounds of his past. His suspended sentence on two charges of violent disorder inside and outside the Icon nightclub in 2019 — charges he denied at the 2023 trial — sits like an ugly, distinguishing visible-to-the-world birthmark. The evidence heard in court was authentically shocking. Many took issue with John Kiely's courthouse character reference, particularly the suggestion that Hayes 'accepts his part in that very disappointing night' and was 'very sorry'. How could that be, how could he have accepted his part and be sorry, went the counter argument, when he had pleaded not guilty? The feelings of his harshest critics are perhaps evoked in a memorable line from the political writer and former Clinton adviser, Sidney Blumenthal, in discussing Donald Trump's serial refusal to embrace the negative consequences of his actions. 'Trump's psychological equilibrium requires the constant rejection of his responsibility for the abrasive reality he churns up,' wrote Blumenthal. Whether or not Hayes is entangled by his conscience or is armoured against self-examination only he can truly say. What is certain is that he will race onto a Shannonside meadow this evening and the arena will rise to a fever pitch. Some to acclaim a phenomenal player, one they believe has advanced into the territory of competitive excellence accessible only to the all time greats. Others to toss their disgust like a Molotov cocktail onto the wildfire triggered every time Kyle Hayes steps onto one of summer's great stages.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
FD Technologies chairwoman urges investors to back takeover
FD Technologies chair Donna Troy has urged investors to back a £541.6 million (€643.04 million) sale of the Newry-based data and analytics company to US private equity firm TA Associates at a special meeting on June 30th, saying there are risks to it delivering on its full potential as a standalone public company. The company's remaining business, KX, which analyses large data sets in real time to help companies predict and respond to market conditions across the various business areas, may be hampered by 'uncertain public markets' if it needs to accelerate investment to capture opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI). 'Furthermore, FD Technologies is a relatively small player in a large, but fast-moving, fragmented market,' Ms Troy said in a letter to shareholders, contained in documents relating to the planned deal, published on the company's website on Friday. 'Competing with a number of larger, very well capitalised software providers and consequently the FD Technologies, directors are cautiously aware of execution risk to delivering its strategy and the associated value to FD Technologies shareholders.' READ MORE The deal with TA Associates, first announced a month ago, follows a big restructuring at the Dublin-listed company last year. This led to the group selling its former core First Derivatives division to US software group EPAM in a £236.1 million transaction and the spin-off of another business, called MRP , into a merger. It subsequently returned £120 million to shareholders in January through a stock buyback deal. How to manage your pension in these volatile times Listen | 37:00 FD Technologies confirmed that it has secured irrevocable commitments from shareholders behind 56.7 per cent of its stock for the TA Associates deal. It will need approval from holders of 75 per cent of its shares to get the transaction over the line through the mechanism, known as a scheme of arrangement, that TA Associates is using to execute the takeover. Shareholders are being offered the choice of taking cash for their stock or rolling their shares into the bid vehicle. 'The FD Technologies board does not give any recommendation to FD Technologies shareholders as to whether they should elect for the alternative offer [of taking shares in the bid vehicle],' the company said. 'FD Technologies shareholders should determine whether acquiring or holding rollover shares is affected by the laws or regulations of the relevant jurisdiction in which they reside and consider the advantages and disadvantages of electing for the alternative offer, and whether rollover shares are a suitable investment in light of their own personal circumstance.'
