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A COURT HAS heard how two bungling drug traffickers communicating with each other through Google translate and suffering with heavy seasickness struggled to save their own lives when the malfunctioning trawler they were aboard ran aground in high seas.
Detective Superintendent Keith Halley was being cross examined by defence counsel Michael O’Higgins SC at the Special Criminal Court sentence hearing for the eight men accused of playing a part in the MV Matthew operation.
Halley led the garda operation in the capture of the MV Matthew in a daring Army Ranger Wing (ARW) operation off the Wexford and Waterford coast. He has spent the last two days outlining the facts of the mammoth transnational law enforcement effort to capture the bulk carrier drug runner.
This morning the barristers for the accused began questioning Halley and also outlining their mitigation for their clients ahead of their sentencing next month.
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 trawler were Ukrainian Vitaliy Lapa (62) and UK national Jamie Harbron (31) – they were charged with attempting to possess drugs for sale or supply.
The six onboard the Matthew are all charged with offences related to drug possession for sale or supply of the 2.2 tonnes or €157m worth of cocaine.
The court has heard that the Castlemore was due to meet the MV Matthew in the Irish Sea and it was to receive the drugs from the bigger bulk carrier.
The court had previously heard that Lapa and Harbron were with three other members of the drug trafficking gang.
Lapa arrived in Ireland in July 2023 and was on standby to participate with the operation that was organised by Iranian and Dubai based criminals as well as other criminals in Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and other locations.
Harbron, from Teeside near Middlesborough, arrived into Ireland on a ferry from Holyhead just days before the group of five headed south to the fishing village of Castletownbere in west Cork to purchase a trawler.
O’Higgins, representing Harbron, who has a drugs addiction, had spoken about how his client had no experience of seafaring. He had joined the operation at the last minute and his counsel said that it was agreed that he would pay off €10,000 of a €20,000 drug debt.
The court had heard from Halley that Lapa was a Ukrainian seafarer who was the experienced member of the two man trawler crew. He had been in Ireland from July 2023 waiting for to get the word to buy and board the trawler that would take posession of the drugs.
The court heard details of how Lapa had been concerned about the condition of the Castlemore and whether it would be able to deal with the sea state and meet the Matthew.
His concerns would ultimately prove well founded as the Castlemore floundered in high seas and wind off the Wexford coast. They were winched off by a Coastguard helicopter and it was a key moment for the Garda, Customs and Defence Forces team leading the Irish operation.
O’Higgins said his client Harbron was at a low “rung on the ladder” and was essentially a deckhand on the trawler.
“He was not a very good or competent deckhand,” he said.
He also said that Coast Guard winchman Gary O’Sullivan, said that when he got on board the Castlemore to rescue the men that their seafaring competency and skill level was low.
“They couldn’t operate the radio, they couldn’t find a life vest and couldn’t operate a tow line,” he said.
Det Supt Halley said that he believed their inability to fix a tow line was because of the sea sickness and physical distress from being battered at sea by storm conditions.
O’Higgins said his client was under the direction of other people, particularly in Dubai over messaging apps.
When they contacted their Dubai handlers they were initially told not to call for Coastguard help when they ran aground and began taking on water.
The court heard that there was then a cover story concocted by those in control before they were rescued. When they were winched off the stricken trawler their phones were immediately removed from the chat groups used to communicate by the smugglers.
“This action might indicate where the men in the fishing boat were in the food chain – they were completely expendable,” O’Higgins added.
Halley under cross examination told the court that Harbron’s role was to receive instructions on messaging groups, using a Starlink system, to keep in contact. He was then to inform Lapa.
The issue for them was that Lapa did not speak English – Halley told the court that Harbron used google translate to communicate with his fellow smuggler.
Colman Cody Senior Counsel for Lapa said that his client was a Ukrainian national who was a qualified sea farer.
He said in court that his client had concerns about the capability of the boat to got a required speed of ten knots.
Halley had agreed with the defence barrister that Lapa was not aware of the full scale of the operation.
Lapa, the court heard, had worked on fishing boats in Europe and Africa previously.
Cody said his client was no longer working and was effectively a pensioner when he was recruited. He said the gang had sought him out as a “person with a particular skill set”.
Halley agreed that Lapa was at the lowest level in the enterprise and wasn’t aware of the Irish criminal gang cell structure.
Much of the day’s hearing was taken up with mitigation from the eight barristers representing the eight men.
They had asked for a degree of leniency from the three judge panel on grounds that the men saved the state a lengthy trial with their guilty pleas. There were also details of their life situations and difficulties with serving prison sentences in Ireland.
Ms Justice Melanie Greally presiding with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Grainne Malone set a date for the sentencing of the men on 4 July next.
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