Albanian national loses appeal against conviction for €1m cocaine haul
By Ryan Dunne
The Court of Appeal has rejected an argument by an Albanian national jailed following a €1.1 million cocaine seizure near Drogheda that his trial was unfair, as he was not given the chance to respond to a charge of money laundering.
Barristers for Pavlin Matia (40) argued that he was deprived of a meaningful opportunity to rebut the inference that €32,500 found in his van was the proceeds of crime, as the money was only located three days after his garda interviews had ended.
On November 12th, 2022, Matia drove a Mercedes van into a car park at Tullyallen, before he exited the van and entered the driver’s seat of an unoccupied Volkswagen Passat. He was subsequently arrested, with the gardaí locating 15,327.6 grams of cocaine in the Passat, valued at €1,072,932.
On November 23rd, the gardaí searched the Mercedes van, finding in a concealed compartment cash to a value of €32,500 and 982.6 grams of cocaine, valued at €68,782.
Matia was charged with the unlawful possession of cocaine, possession of the drug for sale or supply, and possession of cocaine for sale or supply where it had a market value of €13,000 or more, relating to both the Volkswagen Passat and the Mercedes van.
He was also charged with money laundering in respect of €32,500, which were the proceeds of criminal conduct.
Matia, with an address at Clarinda Park East, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, denied all the charges, claiming he was collecting two tyres for his van.
He first stood trial in October 2024, before the jury was discharged. His second trial commenced in February 2025, where he was convicted by the jury and subsequently sentenced to 11 years and three months by Judge Dara Hayes.
During his first trial, the additional charge of money laundering was added to the indictment, with his defence team objecting as the defendant was never interviewed about the money recovered from the van.
His barristers argued that this meant he was deprived of a meaningful opportunity to rebut the inference that the cash was the proceeds of crime.
In launching an appeal against conviction on Thursday, counsel for Matia, Roderick O’Hanlon, said that the appellant was never interviewed about this money, as his van was not searched until three days after his interview with gardaí.
Counsel said that the appellant ought to have been allowed to respond to this allegation before the matter was brought to court.
It was also contended that the evidence of the cocaine found in the van should have been excluded, as the court could never be sure whether he was found guilty in respect of the cocaine in the Passat or the van or both.
O’Hanlon said that the appellant had told gardaí that he did not know of the presence of these drugs, as he thought there were spare tyres in the van.
Counsel for the State, Steven Dixon, said that the drugs referenced in the book of evidence related to both vehicles, with the indictment containing a mention of the location of the offence, but not specifics about the vehicles.
Dixon said that any issues with the first trial were solved by the fact of a second trial. He said that the appellant could have put a statement forward in his second trial to address the money laundering charge, but he declined to do so. Dixon contended that there was no unfairness in this trial.
Justice Alexander Owens, on behalf of the three-judge court, said that the appeal would be dismissed. The court will set out its reasons for dismissal at a later date.
