Ten men have been brought before District Court sittings in Cork city and county, charged with conspiring with each other to import drugs into the State.
The ten were arrested by gardaí this day last week during operations in the villages of Tragumna and Leap near Skibbereen in west Cork.
They were arrested when gardaí moved in on an SUV and an articulated truck at Tragumna Pier in west Cork last Thursday morning, while a Zefiro campervan was surrounded and stopped by detectives around 15 kilometres away in the village of Leap.
All ten were detained at garda stations in west and north Cork and in Cork city over the past week and were brought before District Courts in the area this afternoon.
They face the same charge of conspiring with each other to import controlled drugs valued at more than €13,000 into the State on dates between 27 February and last Thursday.
The ten men are made up of seven Spanish nationals, two Dutch nationals and one man from Northern Ireland.
He is 37-year-old Sean Curran, with an address at Carrickyheenan, Aughnacloy, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh.
Detective Garda Catherine McCarthy told James McNulty he made no reply when the charge was put to him.
The other three brought before the District Court in Bandon are 48-year-old Dutch-Iranian national Ali Mazidi, 51-year-old Dutch national Kiumaars Ghabiri, and 44-year-old Spanish national Mario Angel Del Tio Sanz.
Four other Spanish nationals were brought before the District Court in Cork this afternoon.
They are 35-year old Pedro Padio Ojeda Ortega and 48-year-old Raul Garcia Tabares, both from Cadiz; 39-year-old Angel Serran Padilla from Malaga and 41-year-old Anuar Rahui from Marbella.
At the District Court in Midleton, 36-year-old Spanish nationals Aleksander Milic, and 55-year-old Antonio Gallarzo Barroffo, also known as Juan Antonio Gallardo, were brought before Judge Colm Roberts.
No bail applications were made on behalf of the ten men at today’s court sittings, as bail can only be granted in the High Court in relation to these charges.
All ten were remanded in custody, to be back before court sittings in Cork city and county next Tuesday and Wednesday.
