A DUTCH judge has ordered that an alleged Irish drugs and weapons trafficker remain in custody pending his trial in Amsterdam on charges of being in possession of guns, ammunition and false documents.
The examining judge yesterday ordered that Irish gangland figure Peter Mitchell (40), originally from Summerhill in Dublin’s north inner city, be detained for a further 60 days on the request of the prosecution officer who indicated that it would take some months to complete the police investigation.
Mr Mitchell’s lawyer had made representations to the court for him to be freed pending the trial date. He was arrested on an Amsterdam street allegedly in possession of two loaded weapons – a hand gun and a semi-automatic pistol.
Detectives indicated that they had him under surveillance as part of an investigation involving British authorities and Dutch police.
In August of last year Mr Mitchell survived a gun attack outside a bar in the Spanish resort of Puerto Banus near Marbella. He was shot twice but his injuries were not serious.
A former member of John Gilligan’s gang, in 2004 he was arrested in connection with the discovery of heroin and ammunition in an Amsterdam apartment. He was later sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Mr Mitchell was carrying false papers at the time and it took months before police in the Netherlands discovered his true identity. According to Dutch prosecutors he had a false passport and a forged driving licence when arrested on June 25th.