Three on trial over £14m cannabis seizure
The case against three Englishmen charged with importing £14m worth of cannabis resin into the State has opened at Cork Circuit Criminal Court today.
The jury was told by prosecution barrister Don McCarthy that Richard George Preece, Barry Court and Matthew Paul Simpkins each face charges of possessing the drug for sale and supply and importing it into the State.
He said it was the State's case that the three men were in control of the drugs when Irish Naval and Customs personnel boarded a converted trawler, the Posedonia, south of Fastnet Rock on November 16, 1999.
When the vessel was brought to Schull the following day, searches revealed fifty packages of cannabis resin, weighing a total of 1,489 kilos and with an estimated street value of £14m.
The three men, with addresses in England and Spain, all deny the charges.
