Third man appears in court charged over MV Matthew drug haul off coast of Ireland
A third man has appeared in court after being charged in relation with the seizure of almost 160 million euro (£139 million) of cocaine on a bulk cargo ship off the coast of Ireland.
Fifty-year-old Soheil Jelveh, an Iranian national of no fixed abode, appeared before Wexford District Court on Monday morning.
He was charged with being in the possession of cocaine on September 24 and further charged with being in possession of the controlled drug for the purpose of selling or supplying it in contravention of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2017 to 2019.
He was also charged with importing cocaine worth at least 13,000 euro on September 24 in contravention of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2017 to 2019.
Detective Garda Liam Mangan, from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau told the court that that Jelveh was charged on Sunday at 3.31pm and made no reply to the charge after caution.
He said the accused was airlifted from the cargo ship on September 25 after receiving reports that someone on board was injured.
He had been transferred to Waterford Hospital where he was search by Gardaí.
They found mobile phones including a satellite phone, documents and 53,000 dollars in cash.
The accused indicated that this cash was his wages.
Mr Mangan said gardai believed Jelveh was trying to evade arrest.
A total of 2,253kg of cocaine was found on the MV Matthew cargo ship.
Mr Mangan said the accused was “caught red handed” and that his role on the ship was as captain.
He said the accused’s role was to oversee the cargo on the ship and the route of the vessel.
Gardaí objected to a bail application from Jelveh’s solicitor Lana Doherty on the grounds that they believe he would flee the jurisdiction.
Judge John Cheatle rejected the bail, saying: “The allegations against the defendant are so serious and his links to the jurisdiction are so tenuous it renders bail impossible, in my mind, in this situation.”
Jelveh was remanded in custody to appear again at Wexford District Court via videolink on October 9.
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