Three men who were caught red-handed when they went to retrieve €4.2 million of cocaine hidden in panels in a refrigerated container truck which had come off a ferry in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork in August 2023 have each been jailed for eight years.
Gentjan Dodaj (39) and his brother, Donatel Dodaj (30), both Albanian nationals with an address at Paradise Row, Athlone, Co Westmeath, and Daniel Afedoaei (23), a Romanian national of Slí an Aifreann, Athlone, appeared in court in Cork on Friday for sentencing.
Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard that father of three Gentjan, who has no previous convictions, got involved in the scheme in a bid to pay off bills he had accrued whilst setting up a car valeting business.
He recruited his younger brother Donatel who owed €60,000 to a loan shark in his native country, while Daniel Afedoaei had a debt of €50,000 arising out of a previous conviction for money laundering which involved the seizure of cash. The court heard that none of the three men had the trappings of wealth.
Det Garda Gavin Curran of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau told Judge Jonathan Dunphy that men were under surveillance when they were observed at a transport storage yard in the Dunkettle area of Cork removing panels from a container.
He said that the men had waited for the container to arrive at the Port of Cork in Ringaskiddy and followed it to the transport storage yard after its legitimate load was removed.
The men then removed panels from either side of the container in the early morning of August 5th, 2023 where bags of cocaine were removed from self-made concealment chambers within the panels.
The three men were observed by gardaí leaving the scene in a transit van and a Ford Mondeo, driving in convoy. The container had also contained food which had previously brought to a factory in Ballycurreen in Co Cork.
Bags of cocaine weighing some 60kg were seized by gardaí a short time later from the transit van, found stashed under a seat compartment and in the back of the van.
Surveillance operation
The drugs were seized following a five-day surveillance operation by gardaí. The 60kg was broken down into 1kg packages hidden in panels in the refrigerated truck container which also had Apple tracking devices.
The men were taken to Togher Garda Station in Cork city where they made admissions about their roles in the operation. Det Garda Curran said that men, who were wearing ski masks and dark clothes, planned to travel to Athlone with the drugs.
He said the men had “recovered the drugs from the container in the dead of the night” with Gentjan Dodaj being the “point of contact for the operation.”
Tom Creed, SC for Gentjan Dodaj said that his client was “very frank” with gardaí about what had occurred.
However, he stated that Mr Dodaj had failed to tell gardaí the name of the person who hired him arising out of “genuine fear” for his loved ones.
“He was visibly upset about his family. He has never done anything like this before in Ireland where he has lived for 17 years. He has no previous convictions in Ireland or Albania.
He owed money (relating to the set up of a car valeting business.) He became involved to defray those expenses. He is remorseful and ashamed.”
Mr Creed said that Det Garda Gavin Curran of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau had “very fairly” told the court that Gentjan was very unlikely to re-offend.
Det Garda Curran said he accepted that Mr Dodaj was fearful of the person who hired him.
Mr Creed said Gentjan managed to keep his car valeting business open and worked hard on it whilst on bail. He emphasised that his client had entered a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity and saved the State the cost of an expensive trial.
Each accused was charged and pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine, contrary to section three of the Misuse of the Drugs Act 1977 and possession of cocaine for sale or supply, contrary to section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 at Richmond, Dunkettle, Co Cork on August 5th, 2023.
