Man due to go on trial after cocaine seizure on Panamanian cargo ship pleads guilty to drugs offence

ONE OF SEVEN men who was due to go on trial after a raid on a Panamanian cargo ship off the southeast coast resulted in the largest cocaine seizure in Irish history has pleaded guilty to a drugs offence.

Ukrainian national Vitaliy Lapa (62), with an address at Rudenka, Repina Str in Berdyansk appeared before the non-jury court today, where he was arraigned on one of the two charges against him.

Lapa pleaded guilty that on dates between September 21 and 25 2023, both dates inclusive, he attempted to have in his possession a controlled drug, namely cocaine, for the purpose of selling or otherwise supplying the drug to another.

At the time when the controlled drug was in his possession, the market value of the drug amounted to €13,000 or more, an indictable offence.

The 2.25 tonnes of cocaine that was seized from the MV Matthew, a Panamanian-registered bulk carrier, has an estimated value of more than €157 million.

The ship was boarded in a dramatic operation by the Army Rangers, a specialist wing of the Irish Defence Forces, in September 2023.

Sean Guerin SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), told the three-judge court today that the defendant’s guilty plea was acceptable on a full facts basis and “that the other count would be dealt with in the usual way”.

Caroline Latham BL, representing Lapa, asked the non-jury court for a probation report. She said her client was a non-national and from Ukraine.

“He has no ties to this jurisdiction and a probation report would greatly assist the court,” added counsel.

Presiding judge Justice Melanie Greally said it would be premature to order a probation report at this stage and that she wouldn’t initiate the process now but “was not ruling it out as a possibility in the future”.

Justice Greally, presiding, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Grainne Malone remanded Lapa in custody until February 24, when his case is listed for mention.

Regarding the probation report, the judge said she would have a “better idea at that point in time”.

The other six men, who are charged with offences arising from the seizure of the cocaine, applied to the Special Criminal Court on January 13 to have the charges against them dismissed.

The hearings before the three-judge court began two weeks ago and the non-jury court will deliver its ruling on Thursday of this week.

The reasons for the application and the substance of the submissions cannot be reported by law.

Lapa was the only one of the accused men who did not make an application under the Criminal Procedure Act to have his case dismissed.

The six men who made the applications are Ukrainians Mykhailo Gavryk, aged 32 and Vitaliy Vlasoi, aged 32; Iranians Soheil Jelveh, aged 51, and Saeid Hassani, aged 39; Dutch national Cumali Ozgen, aged 49, and Filipino Harold Estoesta, aged 31.

The men are charged with drug trafficking offences at sea contrary to the Criminal Justice Act 1994.

UK national Jamie Harbron has previously pleaded guilty to an offence arising from the seizure. He will appear before the court later this year for a sentencing hearing.

Harbron (31) of South Avenue, Billingham in the UK pleaded guilty that on a date between September 21 and September 25, 2023, both dates inclusive, he attempted to have cocaine in his possession for the purpose of sale or supply, an offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act.