The Court of Appeal has dismissed a challenge by an Albanian national, imprisoned following a €1.1 million cocaine seizure near Drogheda, who claimed his trial was unfair because he was not afforded a proper opportunity to respond to a money laundering charge.
Barristers acting for Pavlin Matia, aged 40, argued that he was denied a meaningful chance to counter the inference that €32,500 found in his van represented the proceeds of crime, as the cash was only discovered three days after his garda interviews had concluded, reports Breaking News.
On 12 November 2022, Matia drove a Mercedes van into a car park in Tullyallen before leaving the vehicle and getting into the driver’s seat of an unoccupied Volkswagen Passat.
He was subsequently taken into custody, with gardaí finding 15,327.6 grams of cocaine in the Passat, valued at €1,072,932, reports Breaking News.
On 23 November, gardaí conducted a search of the Mercedes van and discovered a concealed compartment containing €32,500 in cash and a further 982.6 grams of cocaine valued at €68,782.
Matia was convicted on charges relating to the possession of drugs for sale or supply, possession of drugs, and money laundering. He received a sentence of ten years, with the final two suspended, reports Breaking News.
At his appeal, his legal team argued that the trial judge had failed to adequately charge the jury on the issue of the money laundering offence and that the late discovery of the cash had fundamentally compromised his ability to defend himself against that charge.
The Court of Appeal rejected these grounds, finding that the trial judge had correctly directed the jury and that there had been no unfairness in the proceedings, reports Breaking News.
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