7 days ago
Iranian smugglers, Dubai gangsters and the frantic crew texts as Irish Special Forces boarded
A COURT HAS heard that sanction dodging Iranian shipping ghost fleet companies with connections in Venezuela were heavily involved with a crime gang in Dubai in the funding and organisation of the largest drug shipment ever seized in Ireland.
Detective Superintendent Keith Halley led the garda operation that captured the MV Matthew in a daring Army Ranger Wing (ARW) operation off the Wexford and Waterford coast.
Halley told of how the case began with intelligence from
MAOC-N in Portugal
and also from Irish Customs. Garda intelligence specialists also gathered information and the Irish Joint Task Force began to target the MV Matthew.
In his evidence he spoke of the bravery of the ARW operators who fought high winds, rolling seas and a ship manoeuvring trying to stop them to get on board. Prosecuting Barrister John Berry read text messages exchanged between the crew members and people in Dubai that told them to run for open water.
The court heard that the ARW operators' helicopter had to fly higher than normal and their rope that they used to get aboard the ship was not reaching the pitching metal work below. They were forced to slide down the rope and drop from a height the rest of the way to the rolling deck.
He also spoke about how the Customs, on board the Irish Navy Ship LÉ William Butler Yeats had hailed the Matthew repeatedly and directed them to Cork. But the Matthew raced south to international waters.
The Captain of the Yeats, Lt Commander Alan Flynn, using the call sign 'Warship 63″, took over control and directed warning shots to be fired. At one point the drug runners told them on the radio 'they don't want problems'.
'I don't like problems either – I want you to change your course. Alter your course to Cork…,' the Captain declared.
Halley was giving an outline of the facts of the case in the Special Criminal Court today ahead of the sentencing of eight crew members who have pleaded guilty to their part in the operation.
Irish naval vessel LE William Butler Yeats escorts Bulk carrier MV Matthew outside Roches Point, Cork on 26 September, 2023.
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Iranian nexus
While being questioned by Michael Bowman SC, who is defence counsel for the Iranian captain Soheil Jelveh, Halley said that there is a 'major Iranian nexus to this operation'.
He said it was orchestrated by Iranian and transnational organised crime groups.
The three judge court viewed a presentation today that outlined the garda investigation that included a slideshow of various text message exchanged between the crew and organisers based in Dubai.
Eight men have pleaded guilty to their part in the trafficking of 2.2 tonnes of €152m worth of drugs into the Irish state in September 2023.
The court heard that six of the men were onboard the MV Matthew with the drugs and they were to meet two other men onboard the Castlemore, a fishing boat that had been purchased just days earlier by a Dubai based man.
The accused from the Matthew are: Iranian Saied Hassani (39), Filipino Harold Estoesta (31), Ukrainian Mykhailo Gavryk (32), Ukrainian Vitalit Vlasoi (32), Iranian ship's captain Soheil Jelveh (51) and Dutch Cumali Ozgen (49).
The men on the Castlemore were Ukrainian Vitaliy Lapa (62) and UK Jamie Harbron (31).
They are all charged with offences regarding trafficking and assisting an organised crime group to import drugs into the Irish State.
Dramatic
In dramatic evidence Halley told the court that the accused repeatedly ignored radio calls from the Irish Naval ship LÉ William Butler Yeats and despite the ship firing warning shots towards the Matthew.
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Before that Halley told the court and showed CCTV images that documented Lapa and Harbron's journey to Castletownbere in the company of a man from Dubai and two other people from Scotland. The CCTV was captured from shops and on one occasion inside a McDonalds.
They bought the Castlemore and sailed out of Castletownbere – unbeknownst to them, Halley said, they were being watched by a garda surveillance team.
The Matthew had sailed across the Atlantic having loaded the drugs off the coast of Venezuela. Halley said that during that trip the ship had used a tactic known as spoofing to hide its actual location from GPS shipping trackers.
The weather descended into chaos and the Castlemore began to struggle to maintain any speed. Eventually it would run aground and partially sink off Wexford in the Irish Sea.
The two men Vitaliy Lapa and Jamie Harbron were rescued by Coastguard helicopter. They were brought to a the LÉ William Butler Yeats. They would subsequently be arrested but their phones held evidence of messaging apps that contained a treasure trove of information for gardaí.
In another dramatic twist the captain of the Matthew, the Iranian national Soheil Jelveh, was airlifted off the ship because of a medical issue. He left with two suitcases, phones and $50,000 US dollars. The gardaí took possession of his phones and would also, once the crew were arrested harvest their phones also.
He told the gardaí that his family in Dubai were in danger from the drug gang.
The helicopter moves in as the Ranger Wing begin their boarding.
Irish Defence Forces
Irish Defence Forces
Frustrated
Gardaí discovered the drama contained on the crew's messaging phone apps. There were two specific messaging apps with contacts from the drugs gang commanders in Dubai as well as the crew discussing how to evade capture.
The messages showed organisers and the crew becoming frustrated that the Castlemore had sunk but then coming up with a plan to get another vessel to come and meet them, possibly from Dublin.
Halley said it showed the reach of the organised crime group and its ability to get another gang cell to come to the aid of the Matthew and offload the ship.
The chat groups on the messaging apps also showed images of the Air Corps helicopter and the Naval vessel from inside the bridge.
There were discussions about what to do next. They ultimately decided to run for international waters hoping that the Irish military would not follow.
But Halley said that the laws of the sea permit an intervention if it is a 'hot pursuit' situation.
The messages also showed the loading of the drugs from the ship – using large skip like white bags. When the Castlemore floundered the plan was then to put the drugs in one of the ship's lifeboats and offload it with a crewman aboard and sail to meet gang members on land.
That was scrubbed also and as the navy and Ranger wing operators came close there were frantic calls on the messaging apps to burn the drugs in the lifeboat with paint thinner.
The court was shown an infrared photograph from an Irish Air Corps PC12 surveillance aircraft showing the heat from the burning lifeboat.
Ultimately the Ranger Wing boarded and the ship was taken into Cobh – the court heard that one of the Ranger Wing operators had experience of serving as a naval officer and he put the ship on a course back to Ireland.
The Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau arrested the men and they were subsequently charged.
Halley will continue his evidence tomorrow before Ms Justice Melanie Greally, Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Grainne Malone.
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