A man has gone on trial at Dundalk Circuit Court charged in relation to the seizure of 70 million cigarettes by customs officers.
Mr Frederick Kerley (45), Chatham, London, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempting to evade customs duties of €15.96 million. He has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of intending to defraud the State directly or indirectly of the customs duties.
The court heard yesterday that Mr Kerley was one of three men detained at Dundalk Port by members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit and detectives at 4.30 a.m. on December 11th, 2001.
A member of the ERU said gardaí were assisting customs officers in the operation and he had restrained one of the men by placing him on the ground and handcuffing him.
Cross-examined by Mr Barry White SC, defending, he said he had not identified himself but he was wearing the clothing of the ERU which had the word "garda" on the vest.
Mr Paul McDermott SC, prosecuting, told the jury that the cigarettes were on board the MV Anto, which had sailed from Suez and docked at Gibraltar before arriving in Ireland.
A customs clearance officer from Gibraltar said he had inspected the vessel before it left the port and was told there was no cargo on board.
After legal argument the trial was adjourned until this morning.