A HISTORIC drugs trial ended yesterday when a crew member of the Sea Mist was found not guilty of charges relating to the discovery of £47 million worth of cocaine on board the vessel in Cobh last September.
This is the most valuable consignment of intercepted drugs in this State on record.
Mr Roman Smollen, from Rodney Bay Marina, St Lucia, Trinidad, walked free from Cork Circuit Criminal Court after the jury found him not guilty on charges of possession of cocaine with intent to sell or supply to others, and of the illegal importation of the drug into Ireland on September 29th last.
The jury took four hours to arrive at its verdict. The trial lasted just over three weeks, during which Judge A.G. Murphy made an order banning the press from reporting proceedings on a day-today basis.
Three other defendants had been found not guilty by direction of Judge Murphy after two weeks of legal argument in the absence of the jury. They were Ms Teresa da Silva Roy of Venezuela, Mr James Noel from Trinidad and Mr Howard Miller from Cumbria, in England.
Yesterday, Mr Smollen said he was very relieved and delighted that the jury had found him innocent. He was grateful for the hospitality and courtesy shown to him in Ireland.
He was looking forward to returning home to Trinidad.
"I will continue to work as I, have done. The sea is my life. I do not know anything else, but I will be careful not to get caught up in something like this again" he said.
The skipper of the Sea Mist Gordon Richards from Brighton England, who pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply to others, will be sentenced today by Judge Murphy.