Clothing exporter charged over €10,000 drugs seizure in Cork

A businessman has been remanded in custody after he was charged in connection with a €10,000 drugs seizure at a business premises in Cork on Wednesday.

Viktoras Andriejevas (37) was charged with possession and possession for sale of supply of 500g of cannabis herb at Unit 5 Carrigaline Industrial Estate, Carrigaline on February 20th.

Det Garda Eoin O’Toole gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution and told Cork District Court that Mr Andriejevas made no reply to the two charges when they were put to him.

He said gardaí were objecting to bail because of the seriousness of the charges and the strength of the evidence against Mr Andriejevas and the belief he would not stand trial if granted bail.

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Cross-examined by Mr Andriejevas’s solicitor, Eddie Burke, Det Garda O’Toole said drugs were found in two vacuum packed packets in a warehouse premises rented to Mr Andriejevas in Carrigaline.

Each packet contained 250g of cannabis herb and they were hidden in the premises but were located by a garda sniffer dog. Gardaí also recovered a vacuum pack machine in the unit.

Distribution

Det Garda O’Toole alleged that gardaí also recovered a number of mobile phones at the premises with messages which supported their belief that Mr Andriejevas was involved in the distribution of drugs.

He said a large quantity of cash was also found on the premises which Mr Andriejevas had been renting for the past five years and using as a base to ship second hand clothes to Lithuania.

The court heard that Mr Andriejevas denied any knowledge of the drugs when he was arrested, detained and questioned at Togher Garda Station.

Mr Burke put it to Det Garda O’Toole that Mr Andriejevas would say that at least six other people had access to the warehouse but Det Garda O’Toole pointed out that Mr Andriejevas was the sole tenant.

Mr Burke suggested the vacuum pack machine may have been used to wrap clothes for export but Det Garda O’Toole said the clothing was packed in 150kg bundles, too large for the machine.

Turnover

Mr Andriejevas said his second hand clothes exporting business had a turnover of some €5,000 to €6,000 a week. Finding €2,600 in his office safe was not unusual and he did not consider it a large sum given the business’s turnover.

He said that he had approximately 80-90 mobile phones on the premises as he was also involved in exporting phones but he only had two for his own use - one for domestic and one for international calls.

He said that he had been living in Ireland since 2006 and his two children were attending school here and he would not pose a flight risk if granted bail.

Judge Olann Kelleher refused bail and he remanded Mr Andriejevas, whose address was given as Castleterry, Mitchelstown, in custody to appear again at Cork District Court on March 1st.