The pilot of a light aircraft that transported €8.4 million of cocaine into the Midlands from France in 2022 was irreplaceable and a “valuable asset” in this venture, a jury has heard.
Counsel for the State, Cathal Ó Braonáin, said 44-year-old Cessna pilot Michal Luczak was “key to the success” of the operation, and would have been a “wild card” risk to a criminal organisation if he had not known what the four-seater aircraft was carrying.
Mr Ó Braonáin was making his closing speech in the case at Mullingar Circuit Court on Friday.
In his final arguments, Mr Luczak’s defence senior counsel, John Shortt, warned jurors there was not a jot of evidence to say his client knew what was on the aircraft, and he urged them not to make a gigantic leap into the unknown or convict Mr Luczak.
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The Polish pilot has pleaded not guilty to unlawful possession of cocaine, possessing it for the purpose of sale or supply, and the possession and importation of drugs worth €13,000 or more at Abbeyshrule Aerodrome, Co Longford, on August 4th, 2022.
The trial, which began on October 7th and involved more than 50 witnesses, including surveillance gardaí named only by initials. Evidence was given that a Cessna 182 aircraft, owned by eight shareholders, including Mr Luczak, left Abbeyshrule Aerodrome bound for Le Touquet Airport in France on August 3rd, 2022.
Mr Luczak was accompanied by Timothy Gilchrist, and the pair stayed overnight before flying to Dieppe airport, also in France, the next day.
Jurors heard that the aircraft returned with 120 kilos of cocaine in five sports bags and one suitcase. A Garda surveillance operation had been put in place at Abbeyshrule Aerodrome, where the Cessna was unloaded. All six bags were put in Gilchrist’s Alfa Romeo car and driven away before Gilchrist was stopped by gardaí at Lough Owel outside Mullingar, Co Westmeath.
Mr Luczak, formerly of Primrose Avenue, Jigginstown, Naas, Co Kildare, and now residing in Dublin 12, left the aerodrome in a black Mercedes car. He was stopped and arrested by gardaí at Collinstown, Co Westmeath.
On Thursday father-of-one Timothy Gilchrist (57), of Mavis Bank, Newrath, Co Kilkenny, told the jury he had been jailed for 11 years and six months for his role in collecting the drugs.
Gilchrist testified that he had been threatened and attacked a few years before, and he did not have a choice. He said these people knew he was interested in flying, and he feared for his daughter’s life and his own; afterwards, he was told to bring the bags back from France.
He told the jury that the pilot did not know there were drugs on board: “I didn’t want to tell him I was carrying anything suspicious because he would have gone straight to the authorities.”
He gave evidence that he loaded the aircraft when the defendant was not around and felt dreadful about it, later telling the accused the bags contained books and research papers belonging to his brother. He also stated that he alone unloaded the bags at Abbeyshrule and placed them in his car.
In his closing speech, Mr Ó Braonáin on Friday told the jury that the pilot did not record the flight from Dieppe in his log and that he was fully aware of the regulations.
Mr Shortt delivered his speech to the jurors, telling them his client was a passionate flyer who worked in transport, had studied law in Poland, was helping his friend Gilchrist, and was putting in as much practice as possible as they went on trips together.
Judge Roderick Maguire will continue his address to the jury on Tuesday before they begin deliberations.
