This is an absolute hoot. Count how many chances can a chancer have?
Man charged after €4m cocaine seizure in Cork denied bail to set up a business
Gentjan Dodaj told the court: 'I will never leave this country. Everyone makes mistakes and deserves one chance. I deserve one chance.'
Gentjan Dodaj, age 39, of Paradise Road, Athlone, Co. Westmeath, an Albanian national, said that he “would never leave Ireland in one million years” if granted bail. He told Cork District Court that he was applying for bail to finish setting up a business to provide for his pregnant partner and two children.
If granted bail, he said he would “1,000,000%” turn up in court for his next hearing on the major drugs charge, which could bring a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. “He accepts there’s an inevitable outcome but he is asking for bail to get his affairs in order, to set up a business to provide for his family in the future,” his solicitor, Shane Collins Daly, said.
Mr Dodaj had been in Ireland for 17 years after first coming to the country as an asylum seeker aged 22 when he lived in direct provision. He is one of three men accused of possession of cocaine and possession of cocaine for sale or supply on August 5 in Richmond, Dunkettle, Co. Cork.
It is alleged that 60kg of the drug was seized following a major Garda and Revenue Commissioners operation. Mr Dodaj was allegedly asked to go to Cork by people he feared. He said that he was being paid between €4,000 and €6,000 to transport the cocaine.
Mr Dodaj said he only did it because he needed the money. “If I get bail I go home, that’s it,” Mr Dodaj said.
Pleas for bail
. . . . Mr Collins Daly told the court that his client was applying for bail to finish setting up a car valeting business which had “gone further than a notional aspiration”. “He’s registered the business, obtained insurance and signed a long-term lease,” Mr Collins Daly said.
A man who was charged following a €4.2m cocaine seizure in Cork has appealed for bail to set up a business to support his young family.
The three men were observed by gardaí leaving the scene in a transit van and a Ford Mondeo, driving in convoy, with Mr Dodaj who was applying for bail, driving the car.
Three bags of cocaine weighing some 60kg with a street value of some €4.2m were allegedly seized by gardaí a short time later from the transit van, found stashed under a seat compartment and in the back of the van. Ratchets which fit the bolts on the container panel from which the cocaine was allegedly removed were also found in a vehicle during the garda search, Det. Gda Curran said.
Garda objections
Gardaí objected to bail on multiple grounds, including the seriousness of the crime which on conviction could carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. As an Albanian national with alleged links to transnational networks, gardaí also alleged that Mr Dodaj could be a flight risk.
And an organized crime group which lost that much money in a drug seizure would likely pressurize the defendant to work for them to recoup some of their losses, Det. Gda Curran said. In his experience, “immense” pressure can be put on people to recoup earnings for organised crime groups when there was a drug seizure of this magnitude, he said.
“I’m satisfied that he will re-offend if released,” he said. The strength of the evidence — on which Mr Dodaj was allegedly caught ‘red handed’ — was another reason for gardaí’s objection to bail, Det. Gda Curran said.
Pleas for bail
But Mr Collins Daly told the court that his client was applying for bail to finish setting up a car valeting business which had “gone further than a notional aspiration”. “He’s registered the business, obtained insurance and signed a long-term lease,” Mr Collins Daly said.
Mr Dodaj would be willing to sign on at a garda station twice a day, reside at his home address, obey a curfew and sign a significant independent surety if granted bail, Mr Collins Daly said.
Mr Dodaj’s Irish partner, who is pregnant with their third child, appeared in court to support him. Although the couple live separately, Mr Dodaj is “fully involved” in his children’s lives, Mr Collins Daly said. . . .
Gentjan Dodaj told the court: 'I will never leave this country. Everyone makes mistakes and deserves one chance. I deserve one chance.'
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