Man on €1.6m cannabis charges sobs in court as bail refused

THE MAN accused of possessing €1.66M euro worth of cannabis sobbed openly in Cavan District Court last Friday after he was refused bail.

Pawel Lewandowski (45) with an address in Newtownabbey in the North was arrested in Dundalk on Wednesday (August 26) as part of a joint operation between the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and Revenue.

Detectives seized 119 kilos of cannabis valued at €1,666,000 from a van driven by Mr Lewandowski, which gardaí believe was destined for Northern Ireland.

Following the detection of drugs coming from the Czech Republic, gardaí took possession of the consignment and had a number of phone contacts with the consignee who directed the drugs to be re-directed to an address in Dundalk.

The person on the other end of the phone said someone from Northern Ireland would pick up the cargo from the new address.

Officers watched as Mr Lewandowski picked up the massive consignment and loaded it into the back of the white Renault Traffic van he was driving, which bore northern number plates.

When they staged an intervention and searched Mr Lewandowski and his van, detectives found 119 kilos of suspected cannabis in the van and a small amount of suspected ketamine on the driver’s person.

When questioned by sting officers, the defendant said he was paid £500 to collect the packages for his neighbour, ‘Seán’, and he thought he was collecting CBD flower.

He was subsequently arrested and charged with possession of cannabis and possession of cannabis for the purpose of sale and supply.

After he was formally cautioned Mr Lewandowski said: “From what I hear, it is cannabis flower.”

A detective from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau said gardaí objected to bail for Mr Lewandowski on several grounds under the O’Callaghan Principles and Section 2 of the Bail Act.

Describing the married father as a “highly-trusted member of a transnational criminal grouping” the detective said they believed there was a likelihood of him committing another offence. She also cited how the accused was caught red-handed and that, as a Polish national who lived outside this jurisdiction, is a flight risk.

Mr Lewandowski’s solicitor, Conor Gray, asked the detective what evidence she had that his client was part of a criminal gang and not, as he said, collecting cannabis flower for his friend Sean who runs a CBD business in the UK.

The solicitor also stressed his client is not a flight risk because he offered to surrender his passport, and has a wife and daughter living, working and going to school in the North.

“His house burned down recently and he was in the middle of repairing the roof,” Mr Gray said of his client’s situation. “He has not been able to work after a serious accident and his family need it at home.”

The solicitor stressed that his client is entitled to the presumption of innocence, and that a section 15 offence carries a minimum of 10 years in jail. “We are only in the early stages, it could take a year for the results of drugs analysis tests to be returned alone,” Mr Gray said.

However, Judge Mary McAveety sided with the prosecution and ordered that Mr Lewandowski of 12 Ypres Park, Newtownabbey be remanded in custody until today (Wednesday) September 2 by video link at Dundalk District Court.

When he was led to the public gallery to await his custody paperwork, the father and husband wept uncontrollably as court proceeded to the next case. The detectives whose sting operation led him to this point in his life sat impassively beside him.