Man (30s) due in court in relation to organised crime group from Lithuania

Olivia Kelleher

A man in his 30s is due to appear before a sitting of Cork District Court on Monday in connection with an operation targeting the sale and supply of drugs in the city by an organised crime group from Lithuania.

A second man remains in garda in connection with the probe by the Cork City Divisional Drugs Unit. A woman in her forties was also arrested on Saturday afternoon in connection with the investigation.

She is being held under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2007 at a garda station in Cork City. Eight people have been arrested in connection with the investigation.

Meanwhile, two people appeared before Cork District Court last Friday in connection with the probe. Aleksandras Kuznecovas (38) and Jonas Pavilionis (46), both of no fixed abode, were denied bail.

Det Garda Linda O’Keeffe told Judge Mary Dorgan that Mr Kuznecovas, who is a Lithuanian national, sold €25 worth of diamorphine (heroin) to undercover gardaí in Cork city on three separate occasions in January of this year.

The sales of bags of drugs allegedly occurred at Western Road, the banks of the Lee Walkway and on Mardyke Bridge. The bags were sent to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis and were identified as heroin.

Det Garda O’Keeffe described Mr Kuznecovas as being a “vital cog’ in an organised crime gang in the city. She expressed the belief that he represents a “danger to the community and the people living in it.”

Meanwhile, Dt Garda Ruairi McGovern said Mr Jonas Pavilionis was observed placing a bag with two bill-hooks behind an electrical box at Audley Place in Cork city on March 23rd last.

Det Garda McGovern said that the accused, who has been in the jurisdiction for two months, was subsequently arrested in the car park of Douglas Village Shopping Centre on the southside of Cork city two days later. He said that suspected heroin with a street value of €3,920 was recovered from the car of the accused.

Mr Pavilionis was charged with having heroin for sale and supply and with having a machete when he was arrested last Tuesday (March 25) in the shopping centre. He was also charged that he had two bill hooks on March 23rd in Audley place.

Det Garda McGovern said that Pavilonis was allegedly an integral part of a crime gang from Lithuania and was brought here “purely for protection.”

Judge Dorgan declined to grant bail in the case and remanded the two men in custody to appear before the court on April 3rd next.