FINGERPRINTS of the five people arrested in connection with the multi million pound cocaine haul in Cork on Sunday have been sent to Interpol.
Investigating gardai want to check the identities of the five, but confirmation is not expected before the weekend.
The five, two Britons, two with addresses on the Caribbean island of St Lucia and a 19 year old woman from Venezuela, appeared again yesterday at Kanturk District Court where they were remanded in custody.
They are Mr Howard Charles Graham Miller (39), from Old Fisherbeck, The Old Lake Road, Ambleside, Cumbria; Mr Gordon Richards (52), from North Hill Cottage, South Hill Lane, Brighton; Mr James Noel (52), from Hospital Road, Castries, St Lucia; Mr Roman Smollen (53), from Rodney Bay Marine, St Lucia; and Ms Therese Bernadette da Silva Roy (19), Terraza 3, Puerta de la Cruz, Venezuela.
Her two year old son is in care with the Southern Health Board.
They are charged with possession of cocaine with the purpose of supply or sale and the unlawful importation of cocaine into the State.
Security was tight outside the courthouse as the four men arrived in a minibus under heavy Garda escort. Casually dressed in windcheaters and tracksuits, the men tried to conceal their faces from camera crews and photographers as they were led handcuffed into the courthouse. Arriving some 20 minutes before the 11 a.m. hearing, the four had to wait more than 30 minutes for their case as Ms. da Silva Roy was late arriving from Limerick Prison.
Garda Supt Kieran McGann told Judge John P. Clifford he was seeking to have Mr Richards remanded in custody to appear at Mallow District Court on Tuesday.
Defending solicitor Mr Joe Cuddigan said he had no objection, and similar applications were obtained for the other four defendants.