A team of gardai is due to appear at a London court this morning seeking the extradition of John Gilligan to Ireland, to face charges including the murder of the journalist, Veronica Guerin.
The Garda team, headed by Assistant Commissioner Tony Hickey, took a flight to London last night to be at the court this morning.
A drug trafficking case against Mr Gilligan is expected to be set aside at the court as gardai seek his extradition on 18 warrants lodged with Scotland Yard. The warrants relate to the murder of Ms Guerin in June of last year, possession of firearms, and the importation of cannabis worth up to £200 million.
The trial of Mr Gilligan on drug-trafficking charges had been due to begin at Woolwich Crown Court this morning. The charges resulted from his arrest at Heathrow Airport last October, when he was about to board a flight to Amsterdam with £330,000, in pounds and sterling notes, in his luggage.
He was charged with conspiracy to import cannabis resin on ships to the Republic, concealing the proceeds of drug trafficking and attempting to remove them from Britain, and assisting another person to retain the benefits of drug trafficking.
In the 11 months since his arrest, Mr Gilligan has been held at the high-security Belmarsh Prison in London, as the Garda and British prosecutors built the drug trafficking case against him.
This morning at Woolwich Crown Court, beside the prison, prosecution lawyers are expected to ask that the drug trafficking charges be left "on file". This would clear the way for Mr Gilligan to be served with the extradition warrants.
Mr Gilligan is then expected to be moved to the adjacent magistrates' court, where the Garda team may be asked to identify him to the court as the subject of the warrants.
If the extradition is granted, Mr Gilligan could appeal against it, a procedure which could take weeks to complete. If he does not appeal, he would be handed over to the gardai at one of the London airports to be returned to the Republic.
In recent weeks, detectives gathering evidence on Mr Gilligan's activities persuaded the Director of Public Prosecutions that there was sufficient grounds for him to be charged with the murder of Ms Guerin, shot dead in her car on the outskirts of Dublin on June 26th of last year.
Mr Gilligan has denied involvement and his lawyer has told the Woolwich court that he also denies describing himself as the prime suspect for the murder.
Already one man is in custody in the Republic, charged with the murder of Ms Guerin.
The drug trafficking case against Mr Gilligan in Britain was expected to last up to six weeks, and was due to start this morning despite legal questions remaining over the presentation of some of the evidence against him.
Mr Gilligan's lawyers had complained of delays in being furnished with some of the evidence, and had sought a ruling at the Old Bailey on disclosure of material considered "sensitive" by the prosecution. They had also raised questions about the manner in which evidence from one Irish witness was to be presented to the jury. The witness, who is under Garda protection, was not due to appear in the court but to make a statement in Dublin which would be read to the London jury. The Old Bailey judge had adjourned the proceedings pending a ruling on admissibility of the "sensitive" evidence.
Mr Gilligan has been accused at earlier hearings in Britain of amassing millions of pounds from drug trafficking, although he claims to have made his money through gambling. He told customs officials that the money found in his luggage was to buy property in Amsterdam.