Man charged in connection with €840k Cork cocaine seizure is refused bail
Custody To 27 31 Cork Larry Dorgan The Year Man Old Judge Court Mary District December On Remanded stock Again In Picture: At Cummins Appear
A man has been remanded in custody after he was charged in connection with a €840,000 cocaine seizure near Cork city.
Rihards Maceks, 31, a Latvian national but who gave an address of Flat 1, Charles Kickham House, Main St, Tipperary Town, Co Tipperary, was brought before Cork City District Court on Friday where he was charged with two offences arising out of the discovery by gardaí of 12kg of cocaine in a car they stopped on the M8 as it travelled southbound near Glanmire on Wednesday.
Mr Maceks, the sole occupant of the car, was charged with possession, and with possession for sale or supply of the drugs on December 18.
Detective Garda Rory Fogarty of the Cork City Divisional Drugs Squad gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution and told the court that when he was cautioned, Mr Maceks made no reply to either charge.
The court was told that he was effectively caught red-handed, that the drugs were hidden in a secret compartment between the car boot and its rear seats, and that he had control of the compartment’s magnetic lock.
Sgt John Kelleher told Judge Mary Dorgan that gardaí were objecting to bail, with Det Gda Fogarty saying gardaí believed Mr Maceks should not get bail because of the seriousness of the charge, with possession of €840,000 worth of drugs carrying a 10-year jail sentence, and given the strength of the evidence against Mr Maceks, and on the grounds that he was a flight risk.
Det Gda Forgarty said that while Mr Maceks had given an address where he stayed, he later admitted in interviews that it was his ex-partner’s flat, and that he used to couch-surf there and stay in his car.
Defence solicitor Shane Collins Daly called his client to give undertakings to the court to abide with certain conditions, and Mr Maceks said he would be happy to sign on twice daily at his local garda station in Tipperary Town, and observe a curfew.
However, Mr Maceks, who the court was told has been unemployed for three years, agreed with Sgt Kelleher that he had been caught with €840,000 worth of cocaine as he was driving into Cork City on Wednesday night and that it was a very serious offence.
Judge Mary Dorgan took the garda concerns into account and refused bail and remanded him in custody to appear at Cork District Court again on December 27. She also granted him free legal aid.