TWO OF the three men accused in connection with a €440 million drugs seizure in west Cork spent two days hiding in a shed but did not discuss at any great length their misfortune in getting caught up in a drug smuggling operation, one of the men claimed in court yesterday.
Joe Daly (41) said he and one of his co-accused, Perry Wharrie, spent the best part of two days hiding in a shed in west Cork after they left Dunlough Bay when they saw packages floating in the sea on July 2nd, 2007, but they did not really discuss their predicament in any detail.
Cross-examined by Tom Creed SC, prosecuting, if he asked Mr Wharrie what he knew about the drugs, Mr Daly said they did not discuss matters at any great length because they spent much of their time during the two days in different parts of the 30ft by 40ft shed.
“I just could not believe the mess I was in and Perry was saying the same,” said Mr Daly, who strongly denied that he knew Mr Wharrie before he came to the house where he was staying at Farnmanagh on July 2nd to say his brother, Michael, was in difficulty at sea.
“Perry said that he knew as much about the situation as I did – he had just got out of bed,” said Mr Daly when he was asked if he had inquired if Mr Wharrie knew what had happened his brother, Michael, or how he actually knew his brother.
Mr Daly said as he hid in the shed, he was still hoping that it would be the case that his brother, Michael, a former detective sergeant in the London Metropolitan Police drugs squad, had an innocent explanation for what has happening.
Mr Daly said he had left Dunlough Bay in a panic after he realised that a Rib (rigid inflatable boat) sticking up out of the water surrounded by packages was the boat that he had brought from the UK to Ireland on June 15th after being asked to do so by his brother.
He said that he knew nothing about the fact that the boat was going to be used for drugs.
Mr Daly told the jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court how he and Mr Wharrie had walked cross-country for three to four hours to get off the Mizen Head peninsula after spotting the packages in Dunlough Bay and fearing they were going to be implicated in the situation.
The court had earlier heard evidence from Det Sgt Fergal Foley that Michael Daly is currently in custody in the UK on charges relating to the seizure of 200,000 kilos of drugs on May 18th/19th, 2008.
