A BULGARIAN man who admitted smuggling €21.6million worth of cocaine on board a cargo ship that sailed from Brazil to Foynes Port in County Limerick was jailed for 10 years.
Kamen Petkov (36) had been in control of “such a large quantity of drugs that it was impossible not to conclude that thousands of lives would have been affected by such a volume”, Judge Colin Daly told the Bulgarian man’s sentencing hearing at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court this Tuesday (December 17).
Following his arrest, Mr Petkov told Gardaí he had gambling debts of €37,000 and that he was to be paid €150,000 for managing the drug shipment on board the Maltese registered vessel, the MV Verila.
The drugs were found when Irish Customs officers, acting on a confidential tip off, searched the vessel after it docked at Foynes Port on December 19, 2023, having sailed from Brazil, where the drugs were loaded, travelling via Canada, carrying sugar and grain.
Judge Daly said Mr Petkov had “facilitated organised crime internationally for a significant reward” and that the Bulgarian’s debts may have made him more vulnerable to involving himself in criminal “enterprise”.
Detective Garda Adrian Cahill, Limerick Divisional Drugs Unit, gave evidence that the €21m cocaine haul was “pure cocaine, with a potential value of five times that amount on the street” estimated at €105million.
Judge Daly said Mr Petkov, who was assisted in court by a Bulgarian interpreter, played a “very important role in moving a huge quantity of cocaine across continents” and he considered a headline sentence of 15 years appropriate.
The judge said he was reducing the sentence to 10 years after “taking into consideration the accused’s guilty pleas at the earliest opportunity, his cooperation with Gardaí, his admissions which exonerated other crew members, and his previous good character”.
However, Judge Daly said Petkov was, in his opinion, “not entitled” to a sentence lower than the prescriptive mandatory minimum of 10 years for possession of drugs worth €13,000 or more, which can be lowered at the discretion of judges.
“I have to take into consideration the element of the importation of drugs here, as well as the principle of a deterrent in respect of drugs generally,” the judge said.
“The accused is a non-Irish national and because of this a prison sentence will be more difficult for him, but this does not persuade me to impose a sentence below the prescriptive minimum,” he added.
Judge Daly said he considered the value of the drugs to be a “critical factor” in his decision.
“The accused must have been aware he was involved in smuggling drugs of enormous quantity, across thousands of miles, across continents,” he said.
The judge added that Petkov “assisted the loading of the drugs onto the ship and he was in control of the drugs on board”.
Mr Petkov, who had no previous convictions, was arrested three days after the ship docked at Foynes after customs officials discovered 12 large bales of cocaine hidden in an air-conditioning room on board the ship.
Prosecuting barrister Lily Buckley said Petkov was approached by unidentified “security” persons at Antoniana Port in Brazil to facilitate the drug smuggling operation.
Petkov told Gardaí said he hid the drugs underneath beds in unoccupied cabins on the ship, which journeyed on to Santos Port, Brazil, and Hamilton Port, Canada, before reaching its final destination at Foynes.
Sorry he didn’t ask for payment upfront
The Bulgarian national said he tied the drug bales together with rope and attached lifejackets and a transmitter. He was given a mobile phone to stay in touch with drug dealers in Bolivia and Paraguay and instructed to drop the cocaine bales overboard when the ship reached Glin Pier prior to its arrival at Foynes Port.
The 12 bales contained 308.6 kilos of cocaine, wrapped into 306 separate packages, valued at €21, 604, 891.
Petkov told Gardaí he did not make the drop at Glin because he became worried when he could not see anybody there to collect the drugs when the ship reached the location.
Detective Garda Cahill said Petkov “was involved in the loading of the drugs, he was in full control of the drugs on the ship, he was the point of contact for others, and he was fully in charge of directing the operation on board”.
The Detective Garda also told the court that Petkov’s DNA was found on a “sophisticated” light beacon and transmitter he had attached to the drug bales.
Mr Petkov, a qualified electrician and father of one, regularly worked five-month contracts at sea on cargo ships, but told Gardaí it was his first time being involved in smuggling drugs and that he had not received any payment for the drug run.
Gardaí said they did not find any evidence that Petkov had received any of the €150,000 he agreed to accept to smuggle the drugs, and Ms Buckley said that the Bulgarian had noted how “he was sorry he didn’t ask for half the payment upfront”.
