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Two Eastern European men arrested in connection with the theft of a quad worth €8,000 have been remanded in custody to appear again in court in early January.
Maciej Kanai, 38, from Poland, and Mykola Lastovestskyy, 55, from Ukraine, appeared before Judge Brian Sheridan at Fermoy District Court on Friday.
The pair were arrested on Wednesday in relation to quad bike thefts in Munster.
Giving evidence on behalf of the state, Detective Sergeant Michael Reidy said the arrests were as a result of 15 months of surveillance work taking many man hours.
The investigation involves a series of 80 thefts in the Limerick, Kerry and north Cork areas.
In the last five weeks, seven quads have been stolen in the region, the court heard.
This work resulted in the accused being before the court charged with handling stolen goods.
Lucrative criminal enterprise
Gardai believe the men to be part of a lucrative criminal enterprise involving quads valued at €8,000 to €10,000 stolen for export, Detective Reidy told the court.
He told the court that Mr Kanai is employed as a courier and there was strong evidence against him.
He was apprehended in the process of transporting a stolen quad.
The court heard that Mr Kanai claims to be a bona fide courier and that he received the sales receipt as part of the trade.
Detective Sergeant Reidy said: “It is a fictitious document.”
Aliases
Gardai believe the sales receipt appeared to come from the higher echelons of this criminal organisation. The person Mr Kanai received it from is known to the gardai and has five or six different aliases.
Interpol is investigating the bona fides of the courier company.
Since 17 November 2016, Mr Kanai travelled to Ireland by ferry with Stena Line on 19 occasions. Gardai are awaiting confirmation from Irish Ferries on any other trips he may have made.
Mr Kanai travelled to Ireland by ferry with Stena Line on 19 occasions.
Under questioning, the Polish national, speaking through an interpreter, said he had been in Ireland approximately once every two weeks in that period of time.
Mr Kanai had been trying to load the stolen quad with his co-accused in the Kilmallock area of Co Limerick on Wednesday, 20 December, when the gardai arrived and arrested him.
Just a victim
Describing the arrest Mr Kanai said: “It was a bigger quad than expected and it was hard to load.
“When the guards arrived, I was shocked and did not know what was happening. Since the arrest I have been asking, why?”
He added: “I have nothing to do with this, I am just a victim.”
Ken Murray, counsel for Maciej Kanai, said that his client had no previous convictions of any kind.
In the bail application, Mr Kanai, who is not a resident of the state, gave an address in Galway of people who were long settled in the area.
The state objected to bail, believing the accused was a flight risk and that he would facilitate the export of quads that are not disposed of to date.
Judge Brian Sheridan said: “While I am cognisant and aware it is early in the investigation, I will have to refuse bail.”
Co-accused
Mr Kanai’s co-accused, Ukrainian national Mykola Lastovestskyy, did not make any application for bail.
Matt Bermingham, speaking on behalf of Michael O’Donnell solicitor, counsel for Mr Lastovestskyy, told the court that his client does not have an address in the state, so there was no need to make an application for bail.
Mr Lastovestskyy had the previous day told Midleton District Court, through solicitor Don Ryan, that he had “no involvement in the larger matter” and that when the Gardai arrived on scene, he was washing the item [the quad], a service for which he was paid a small amount of money.
A request from Mr Lastovestskyy for a Russian translator was granted.
Judge Sheridan remanded both men in custody to appear in court again in Mallow in early January.
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