Three men caught red-handed smuggling €4.2m of coke in hidden panels inside refrigerated container truck in Cork jailed
THREE men were caught red-handed when they retrieved €4.2 million of cocaine hidden in panels inside a refrigerated container truck last August, a court has heard.
They were caught after a joint operation was conducted by the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau and personnel attached to the Revenue Customs Service.
All involved, two Albanian brothers and a Romanian man, were deeply in debt and saw this as a means to paying off the thousands they owed.
Albanian nationals Gentjan, 39, and Donatel Dodaj, 30, both with an address at Paradise Row, Athlone, Co Westmeath, and Daniel Afedoaei, 23, a Romanian national of Slí an Aifreann, Athlone, appeared before Cork Circuit Criminal Court today for sentencing after pleading guilty to the drugs charges.
Each of the defendants pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine, contrary to section three of the Misuse of the Drugs Act 1977 and possession of cocaine for sale or supply, contrary to section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 at Richmond, Dunkettle, Co Cork on August 5, last.
The Court was told that dad-of-three Gentjan, who has no previous convictions, got involved in the scheme to pay off bills he had accrued whilst setting up a car valeting business.
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He recruited his younger brother Donatel who owed €60,000 to a loan shark in his native country, while Daniel Afedoaei had a debt of €50,000 arising out of a previous conviction for money laundering which involved the seizure of cash.
None of them had the trappings of wealth.
Detective Garda Gavin Curran of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau told Judge Jonathan Dunphy that the men were under surveillance when they were seen at a transport storage yard in the Dunkettle area of Cork removing panels from a container.
They had waited for the container to arrive by ferry at the Port of Cork in Ringaskiddy and followed it to the transport storage yard after its legitimate load of food - which was brought to a factory in Ballycurreen in Co Cork - had been removed.
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They then removed panels from either side of the container where bags of cocaine were removed from self-made concealment chambers.
The three men were observed by Gardai leaving the scene in a transit van and a Ford Mondeo, driving in convoy.
Bags of cocaine weighing 60kg were found stashed under a seat compartment and in the back of the van a short time later.
The drugs were seized following a five day surveillance operation.
The 60kg was broken down in to 1kg packages hidden in panels in the refrigerated truck container which also had Apple tracking devices.
The men were taken to Togher Garda Station in Cork city where they made admissions about their roles in the operation.
Garda Curran said the men, who were wearing ski masks and dark clothes, planned to travel to Athlone with the drugs.
He said: “They recovered the drugs from the container in the dead of the night with Gentjan Dodaj being the point of contact for the operation.”
Tom Creed, SC for Gentjan Dodaj said that his client was “very frank” with gardai about what had occurred. But he didn’t tell Gardai the name of the person who hired him arising out of “genuine fear” for his loved ones.
Mr Creed said: “He was visibly upset about his family. He has never done anything like this before in Ireland where he has lived for 17 years. He has no previous convictions in Ireland or Albania.
"He owed money relating to the set up of a car valeting business. He became involved to defray those expenses. He is remorseful and ashamed.”
Mr Creed said that Garda Gavin Curran had “very fairly” told the court that Gentjan was very unlikely to reoffend and that he accepted Mr Dodaj was fearful of the person who hired him.
He said that Gentjan managed to keep his car valeting business open and worked hard on it while on bail.
He emphasised that his client had entered a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity and saved the State the cost of an expensive trial.
His wife in evidence said she was not in any way condoning the behaviour of Gentjan who was “100 percent responsible” for his actions.
However, in mitigation, she said he was a devoted father of her three children and a hard worker, adding: “He is not a career criminal.”
She asked Judge Dunphy “not to be too harsh” in sentencing as her children needed their father.
The court heard that Donatel Dodaj has no previous convictions but Daniel Afedoaei was on bail for a money laundering offence when he committed the crime.
Ray Boland, SC for Afedoaei, said that his client had been “very forthcoming” in Garda interviews.
He was in debt and he was on bail having received a four year sentence with one year suspended in 2021 for money laundering.
Mr Boland said his client had lived in Ireland for several years and worked as a manager in a phone shop in Athlone but lost his job during Covid.
Jane Hyland, SC for Donatel Dodaj, said that her client had accrued a debt in Albania which he was trying to pay off. He identified himself on CCTV to Gardai and set out what had happened.
She said that even with his limited English he was doing his best to improve himself while in custody.
She said: “He lived for a period in Germany where he worked as a pizza chef. He is remorseful for having got involved in the unwise event and had lost his French girlfriend because of his actions."
Prosecuting barrister Paula McCarthy, said that the minimum sentence in the case was 10 years imprisonment, other than for exceptional circumstances, whilst the maximum sentence was life imprisonment.
He said that Donatel Dodaj had entered his plea at an early stage and was without previous convictions.
The accused was “under pressure” from a loan shark in Albania having borrowed a deposit for a house.
He accepted that he was genuinely remorseful and jailed him for 9 years, suspending the last year of the sentence.
In sentencing Afedoaei Judge Dunphy said that he was factoring in as an aggravating factor that he was on bail for a previous offence when the crime happened.
The accused had co-operated fully with Gardai and identified himself on CCTV.
He also pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
He jailed him for nine and a half years, suspending the final 18 months of the sentence.
Judge Dunphy said Gentjan Dodaj was without previous convictions and had identified himself on CCTV to gardai.
He said that the defendant had engaged in the criminal activity in order to defray the costs of setting up his car valeting business.
He noted that he was a married father-of-three and a good worker before jailing him for nine years and suspending the last year of the sentence.