Man refused bail over €1.6m cannabis haul openly weeps in court
Officers from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau intercepted a consignment from the Czech Republic on Wednesday.
THE MAN accused of possessing almost €1.7 million worth of suspected cannabis sobbed openly in Cavan District Court this evening after he was refused bail.
Pawel Lewandowski (45) with an address in Newtownabbey in the North was arrested in Dundalk on Wednesday 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 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 consignment from the new address.
Officers watched as 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 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, Lewandowski said he was paid £500 to collect the packages for his neighbour, Sean, and he thought he was collecting CBD flower.
Pawel Lewandowski was subsequently arrested and charged with possession of cannabis and possession of cannabis for the purpose of sale and supply.
A detective from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau said gardaí objected to bail for Lewandowski on several grounds under the O’Callaghan Principles and Section 2 of the Bail Act.
Describing the 45-year-old husband and 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 he was a Polish national who lived outside this jurisdiction in Northern Ireland and therefore 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, “His family need at home.”
The solicitor also stressed how his client is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, and that a section 15 offence carries a minimum of 10 years in jail.
“We are only in the early stages of this case," the solicitor said, "it could take up to a year just to get the results of drugs analysis tests back,” he said.
However, Judge Mary McAveety said she was satisfied the prosecution had proved the case for objecting to bail under both the O’Callaghan principles and Section 2 of the Bail Act and ordered that Pawel Lewandowski of 12 Ypres Park, Newtownabbey, be remanded in custody until September 2 to appear 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.