Man admits having guns and explosives seized in Co Louth arms bust
A 34-year-old man has pleaded guilty to facilitating a criminal organisation to import explosives, firearms and ammunition into the State.
Mark McCourt, with an address at Edenerieve, Newry, Co Down, appeared before the Special Criminal Court on Monday where his defence counsel Brendan Grehan SC said he could be arraigned on six counts on the basis that they are sample counts.
McCourt pleaded guilty that between February 10, 2023 and July 19, 2024, both dates inclusive, within the State, with knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation, did participate in or contribute to activity intending to facilitate the commission by the said criminal organisation or any of its members, of a serious offence, to wit the importation in the State of Firearms and Ammunition and Explosives.
He further admitted to unlawfully having in his possession two .233 Remington Calibre barrels from AR-15 pattern semi-automatic rifles in circumstances giving rise to a reasonable inference that he did not possess it for a lawful purpose on July 19 2024 at John St, Blackstick, Ardee, Co Louth.
McCourt also pleaded guilty on the same date at the same location to unlawfully having in his possession nine assorted 9mm luger calibre barrels, eight frames for Sig Sauer semi-automatic pistols, a frame for a Canik semi-automatic pistol and four slides for a Sig Sauer model P320 9mm Lugar Calibre semi-automatic pistol in circumstances giving rise to a reasonable inference that he did not possess it for a lawful purpose.
Mr Grehan requested that a governor's report be sought in respect of his client and asked that a date for sentencing be fixed before the end of term.
Ms Justice Karen O'Connor directed that a governor's report be prepared and set a date of Monday July 28 for the sentence hearing.
Mark McCourt and the seized weapons
News in 90 Seconds - July 22nd
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Military grade guns and ammunition When the data was downloaded, gardaí found text messages, voice messages and videos related to the importation of military grade guns and ammunition and the distribution of the weapons around Ireland. In text messages to a person known as 'The Keeler' McCourt referred to "picking up rounds of 9mm" and told him "so get the cash ready lol". 'The Keeler' replied "sound brother" but told McCourt to "get another phone there", "a burner" and that he would "make a group". Mccourt replied "yeh I'll get one sorted tomorrow mate". McCourt sent 'The Keeler' a list of guns and ammunition including "AR-15" assault rifles and "glocks" as well as details on ammunition and magazines. "75k cash is best price, I've another man there for them," he said. 'The Keeler' told him to "send me full list". McCourt also advised 'The Keeler' that he would need to store the guns and ammunition carefully. "Yeah you'll need some stash, rounds need to keep in a dry place, if they get damp they won't fire," he told him. McCourt also offered 'The Keeler' additional explosives for free. "That's sound brother, tell them 75K and ill throw in the 10 pipes for free." "100% bro," 'The Keeler' replied "another ten for the ten". Gardaí also downloaded three videos of the guns and ammunition that McCourt also sent to 'The Keeler' showing AR-15 assault rifles, semi-automatic pistols and bags of ammunition. A gloved hand can be seen loading and unloading the weapons, including showing a drum magazine which can hold up to 50 rounds. The serial numbers had been removed from all but one weapon which enabled gardaí to trace this rifle to Pahrump, a gun and ammunition supply store outside Las Vegas, in Nevada. It was bought there by another man with US citizenship on 10 Feb 2023. McCourt also discussed the sale and supply of weapons with another person known as 'Vladimir Putin'. McCourt told him "I can get an AR-15," and referring to ammunition he said "she'll drop a deer at 900 yds". "Can you get a 7.62 sniper pal?" 'Vladimir Putin' replied: "Where you get them, we ram raid the place? Over the water?" McCourt confirmed he got the guns abroad. "Yeah mate overseas," and in reply to the question about the sniper rifle "don't know, can get it priced". He sent him a picture of the drum magazine on 6 March 2024. He also discussed other guns, "big ones, good ones" including Glocks and Sig Sauer handguns, assembling them and providing pictures to the prospective buyers. Detective Inspector McCartan said he was importing in parts and reassembling in Ireland for criminal gangs. Mark McCourt also dealt with another person known as 'Duff', sending him messages and videos of guns and ammunition. He told him they were "brand new bud" to which Duff replied: "Sweet bro, and if I need another AR how soon can I get it?" "That's sound," McCourt said, "we've a few orders here already man. You let me know closer to the time, so I get a chance to put an order in". He sent pictures to Duff on 11 Mar 2024 of two rusty guns and a video of assembled AR-15's and ammunition. "You let me know before they arrive and what's available," Duff replied. "I've a fella looking for them straight away, 2 rusty things, [a reference to two rusted weapons] and 5 of those things you make straight away". There was also a message on his phone from the man with US citizenship about how close he came to being caught by US security agents whom he referred to as "secondary". "Pulled in to secondary again," he texted Mc Court. "No way what did they say," Mc Court asked. "There's your passport, lucky he didn't take the check bag in, he was about to and I was chatting him" the man told Mc Court. Gun parts There was also messages on McCourt's phone in relation to a mule he was using to go to Las Vegas to bring back broken down gun parts. Gardaí set up an operation and put McCourt and another man under surveillance. On 19 July 2024 they raided a shed at Blackstick in Ardee, Co Louth after the two men arrived and discovered 82 gun components in two Nike holdall bags in the middle of the floor. When assembled they made six AR-15 assault rifles and 12 Glock semi automatic pistols. All the firearms and ammunition were found to be in working order and suitable for discharge. Gardaí also found 800 rounds of ammunition for the weapons in a Dunnes Stores bag. McCourt had earlier that morning bought a pair of microfibre gloves. A smashed up mobile phone was also found in a blue plastic drum in the shed. When gardaí analysed the data on it, they discovered a conversation on it on 24 May 2024 where McCourt and another person discussed remotely wiping the data from the cloud and the phone that gardaí had already seized from McCourt. Forensic awareness Detective Inspector McCartan told the court that this showed his forensic awareness. He also said he was fully satisfied that "an unnamed criminal organisation was operating under the direction of McCourt" and was involved in "the importation of firearm components and ammunition, the reassembly of guns and the distribution of these and of pipe bombs to other criminal organisations, in Derry, Dublin and Limerick". McCourt was arrested and interviewed 14 times but nothing of evidential value came from the interviews. His bank documents also showed he made payments to the other man with US citizenship when the guns were bought in Nevada. That man has dual Irish and US citizenship and could purchase firearms legally in the US. Mark McCourt has 47 previous convictions including for ramming the car of an off duty garda at her home for which he was sentenced to three years in prison. Video and texts from McCourt's phone were shown in court and gardaí showed the three judges one of the AR-15 rifles and a SIG Sauer pistol in court. Defence counsel Brendan Grehan said he was a plumber by trade, in a stable relationship for the past 11 years and the father of two young children aged eight and three. He said the majority of his previous offending took place when he was aged between 19 and 22. The case has been adjourned for mention on Thursday.
