Dublin man arrested following €1.2m cocaine seizure is refused bail

Pavlin Matia (37), Clarinda Park East, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, is accused of possession and possession for sale or supply of cocaine at Tullyallen, Drogheda, on November 12 last.

Gda Emma Kilroe gave evidence of charging the defendant the following day. He made no reply after caution.

Mr Matia appeared in custody before Drogheda Court on Monday and made a bail application.

Gardaí objected under O’Callaghan Rules whereby bail can only be denied if there is a likelihood that a defendant may not face trial or may interfere with witnesses before the trial.

Gda Kilroe said that gardaí were carrying out a surveillance operation on a black Volkswagen Passat and located it in the Tullyallen area in a carpark. The vehicle was unoccupied.

It will be alleged that Mr Matia entered the carpark driving a Mercedes van and that he exited this vehicle and attempted to open the boot of the Passat, but it was locked.

He then sat into the driver’s seat of the car where he was apprehended by gardaí.

It will also be alleged that a search of the car yielded 16kgs of cocaine with an estimated value of €1.2m in the boot.

Three mobile phones were seized from the man and in a follow-up search at his address suspected ‘drugs paraphernalia’ was found.

Gda Kilroe continued that Mr Matia had no ties to this jurisdiction. He told gardaí that he did jobs for cash driving all over the country and in Northern Ireland.

He had no passport and came to Ireland in 2002.

Cross-examined by solicitor Barry Callan, Gda Kilroe said that the accused told officers he was going to collect wheels for the van and that he was unemployed and not in receipt of social welfare.

Mr Callan submitted that his client had given an account to gardaí and that the threshold for their objections had not been met.

However, Judge McKiernan refused bail and remanded Pavlin Matia in custody to Drogheda Court on 21 November, via video link, for DPP directions.

No application was made for legal aid.