A 37-year-old father of three has been charged with possession of ecstasy tablets and cannabis resin with an estimated street value of £4 million discovered by gardai at a checkpoint in Co Louth on Saturday.
At a special sitting of Dunleer District Court last night, Mr Thomas Clarke, of St Oliver's Park, Carlingford, Co Louth, was refused bail by Judge Flann Brennan after gardai said they believed he would not stand trial.
Sgt Joe Kelly, of Balbriggan Garda station, said that Mr Clarke, who had been held under the Criminal Justice Drug Trafficking Act, was released from custody at 6.12 p.m. yesterday. One minute later he was rearrested under Section 25 of the Misuse of Drugs Act. When charged in relation to the ecstasy seized, he told the garda he did not know it was ecstasy, and replied "No" in relation to the cannabis resin seized.
Mr Clarke is charged with unlawful possession of ecstasy and cannabis resin at Gormanstown on April 11th and with possession of both substances for the purpose of selling or otherwise supplying them to another person.
His solicitor, Mr Patrick Goodwin, said Mr Clarke was pleading not guilty to the charges and was seeking bail. Supt Fergus Doggitt said he was objecting to bail because of the seriousness of the charges. Sgt Kelly said he was opposing bail because he believed Mr Clarke would not stand trial and because £4 million worth of controlled drugs was involved.
Mr Goodwin said his client had no previous convictions and gardai already had his passport. He was married, with three daughters, aged 11, 15 and 16, the solicitor said.
Mr Clarke told Judge Brennan he had been living at the same address for 11 years and was renting the house from Louth County Council. Judge Brennan said this was an extremely serious charge and he thought Sgt Kelly's fears were well founded. He remanded Mr Clarke in custody to appear at Drogheda District Court on Friday.