Couple charged after drugs worth €100k and over €300k cash found in Dublin home

Diego Dos Santos Carvalho (31) and his wife Nela Carvalho (30) appeared in Dublin District Court today on drugs charges following seizures by gardai at the weekend.

The parents of two young children were granted bail by Judge Deirdre Gearty who adjourned the cases for the directions of the DPP to be given.

Mr Carvalho is charged with possession of cannabis for sale or supply following an estimated €5,000 seizure made in a car that was stopped at Goldsmith Street, Phibsborough on March 11. He is charged with the same offence over €100,000 worth of the drug found in a follow-up search at his home at Royal Canal View Apartments, Phibsborough.

He also faces a money laundering charge related to €341,975 of alleged crime proceeds also found at that address.

Ms Carvalho is only accused of possession of the cannabis found at the couple’s home.

Today, gardai said neither accused replied to the charges after caution.

Objecting to bail for Mr Carvalho, a garda said it was alleged he was “caught in the act” transporting drugs in a car, before the larger amount of cannabis was found in his home.

The garda believed Mr Carvalho was a flight risk as he was a foreign national with no ties to the country other than his wife and two children. There were a number of bank accounts with cash deposits, he said.

Applying for bail, defence barrister Gareth Casey said Mr Carvalho was presumed innocent and if refused bail he was likely to spend more than a year on remand in custody awaiting trial.

DPP directions could not be issued until a certificate of forensic analysis was provided, he said.

The accused had been living in Ireland for nearly a decade, he worked here and his children were aged three years and six months. He would not see them for at least a year if refused bail.

The accused had “powerful reasons” not to seek to leave the jurisdiction, Mr Casey said.

Judge Gearty granted Mr Carvalho €5,000 cash bail, with a €10,000 independent surety, of which half is to be in cash, or the entire sum in cash in lieu.

He is to sign on three times per week under conditions.

There were no objections to Ms Cavalho’s bail, at €500 with no cash. Under conditions, she is to sign at a garda station twice weekly, surrender her travel documents and be contactable by phone.

The accused have not yet indicated how they intend to plead to the charges.