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EIGHT MEN HAVE been sentenced to a range of prison terms ranging from 20 years to 13 years for their part in Ireland’s biggest ever drugs seizure.
The men were all arrested after a spectacular Garda, Revenue Customs and Defence Forces operation targeting the MV Matthew bulk carrier cargo ship and the Castlemore trawler off the east and south coasts in September 2023.
Army Ranger Wing (ARW) special forces operators fastroped from a helicopter onto the deck of the MV Matthew off Waterford on 26 September 2023.
Previously Detective Superintendent Keith Halley, who led the investigation, outlined the facts. He had been the garda liaison with the Joint Task Force and worked closely with Revenue Customs.
He told the court that an intelligence led operation by gardaí and customs, the ARW along with the naval ship LÉ William Butler Yeats were deployed. They seized the ship which was running for the Atlantic and heading to the African country of Sierra Leone as their plan to smuggle 2.2 tonnes or €157m worth of cocaine fell apart.
The MV Matthew was bought by an organised crime group for the sole aim of smuggling the drugs to Ireland.
The accused were identified after a lengthy investigation which included the downloading a phones and chat groups they were using to communicate with crime gang handlers in Dubai.
The accused from the Matthew are: Iranian Saied Hassani (39), Filipino Harold Estoesta (31), Ukrainian Mykhailo Gavryk (32), Ukrainian Vitali 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 had pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court to offences specific to the commission of offences under drug trafficking act.
There was no reaction from the men when the sentence was handed down who were sitting together in the accused dock.
In her summation of the sentence Ms Justice Grainne Malone said that there was a wide spread of culpability but that it was all at the extreme of the scale in terms of seriousness.
The judgment accepted the Harbron had drug debts but said that they did not accept that he was an incompetent forced participant. The judges said that it was clear from messages that he was much more competent than was being shown.
The judges took note of the men’s mitigation and pleas for leniency which included distance from their families, the difference in culture in Ireland to their home countries and the timing of their pleas.
They read several character references from family and friends – many of them with stories of sick relatives.
The most serious involvement was reserved for Dutch national Cumali Ozgen (49) which the judges accepted was acting as the agent for the crime group. He received a 20-year-sentence.
The next is Filipino national Harold Estoesta (31) who played a key role in the evasion of the Matthew – he was on the bridge and was managing communications. The court accepted he was critical to the effort to avoid capture.
The Captain of the Matthew Soheil Jelveh (51) was sentenced to 17 and a half years imprisonment. The court accepted he fled the Matthew in a fake medical emergency but said that he was aware of what was going on.
Ukrainian Vitali Vlasoi (32) who took command of the Mathew when the captain fled also steered the ship in an erratic manner to interrupt the efforts by the Air Corps to land the helicopter as the ARW attempted to fast rope down. He was sentenced to 16 and a half years.
Iranian Saied Hassani (39) was sentenced to 15 years – his involvement was judged to not be as serious as the others but that he was an “enthusiastic” participant.
Ukrainian Mykhailo Gavryk (32) got 14 years as the officer that had the least involvement but that he was aware of what was going on.
The two men in Castlemore Vitaliy Lapa (62) and UK Jamie Harbron (31) both were charged with attempting to take possession of the drugs under Section 15a of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Lapa was a qualified sailor and was piloting the crippled vessel. The judges did not buy that he or Harbron were bit players. lapa was sentenced to 14 years.
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