Defence maintains 'not a sausage of evidence' against pilot in €8.4m cocaine case

A pilot involved in the transportation of €8.4m worth of cocaine into a midlands airport in 2022 was “not replaceable” and was “absolutely key” to the operation, a Mullingar Circuit Court jury has heard.

Michal Luczak (44), formerly of Primrose Avenue, Jigginstown, Naas, County Kildare, now with an address at The Davitt, Dublin 12, will receive a jury verdict this week in a trial that ran for three weeks before Judge Roderick Maguire.

Cathal Ó’Braonáin, BL, for the state, told the jury that there were too many risks to the criminal organisation involved in the drugs operation for them to “take a chance” on Mr Luczak not knowing what was in the six large bags loaded on the Cessna aircraft he part-owned.

John Shortt, SC, meanwhile, insisted that there was “not a sausage of evidence” to prove that his client knew what was in the bags, and that he was “simply obliging a friend” by flying him to France to collect what he thought were just books and accounts.

Mr Luczak had pleaded not guilty to possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine for the purpose of sale or supply, possession of cocaine valued at €13,000 or more for the purpose of sale or supply, and the importation from another country of drugs to the value of €13,000 or more.

Those charges relate to the alleged transportation of 120kg of cocaine, valued at €8.4m from northern France into Abbeyshrule Aerodrome, County Longford, on August 4, 2022.

His trial began on October 7 and evidence from over 50 witnesses, including surveillance gardaí who were not named, was heard over three weeks.

The jury heard how Mr Luczak departed from Abbeyshrule Aerodrome, a type two customs airport for passengers and baggage only, on August 3, 2022, in the Cessna 182-S aircraft that was part-owned by eight equal shareholders, including the accused.

With him was his friend Timothy Gilchrist (57), who told the jury, on Thursday, that he had been jailed for level years and six months for his role in collecting the drugs.

Evidence was given that the two men flew to Le Touquet, a customs airport in northern France, and stayed overnight in a hotel before flying to Dieppe, a smaller airport “more akin to Abbeyshrule”, where five large sports bags and one large suitcase were loaded on the plane before the plane returned directly to Abbeyshrule, landing in the early evening of August 4.

On that day, garda surveillance was put in place, and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB), supported by other units, were monitoring the aircraft.

When the plane landed, the six bags were loaded into an Alfa Romeo owned by Mr Gilchrist, who was later intercepted and arrested by gardaí at Lough Owel.

The car was searched and the six bags were each found to contain 20 blocks, each wrapped in plastic with green tape and a picture of a seahorse on them. Each of the 120 blocks was found to contain approximately one kilogram of cocaine, totalling 120kg, with a market value of €8.4m.

Mr Luczak had left the aerodrome in a black Mercedes, and was stopped at Collinstown, County Westmeath, before being taken to Ashbourne Garda Station for interview.

On Thursday, Mr Gilchrist, with an address at Mavis Bank, Newrath, County Kilkenny, told the jury that Mr Luczak did not know there were drugs in the bags that were loaded on the plane in France.

He said he didn’t want to tell Mr Luczak he was carrying anything suspicious because “he would have gone straight to the authorities”, and instead told the accused that the bags contained books and research papers.

Mr Gilchrist loaded the bags on the plane, the court heard, and then asked that Mr Luczak fly directly to Abbeyshrule, as he was feeling sick.

“Every day I’m beating myself up for what I did to that man,” he said, stating that he regrets involving Mr Luczak.

However, in his closing speech on Friday, Mr Ó’Braonáin told the jury: “I don’t think you can believe a word of his (Gilchrist’s) evidence.”

If Mr Luczak had not known exactly what was going on, then the organisation was “taking the chance” that he’d refuel enough in La Touquet to make the journey to Dieppe and directly from there to Abbeyshrule with the heavy cargo.

“This organisation was taking the chance he’d not only agree to carry this cargo, but not even check it. This organisation was taking the chance he’d agree to risk a fine by going directly to Abbeyshrule without going through customs (in Le Touquet),” he said.

He also noted that, not only was the trip to Dieppe excluded by Mr Luczak from the travel log, but Dieppe wasn’t even mentioned to gardaí until the fourth interview with the accused.

“He consistently denies he ever touched the bags, but touching the bags is not required for him to be in possession of them. He was the pilot of the aircraft and so he was in control of them,” said Mr Ó’Braonáin.

“And if what he says is true and he didn’t touch them, why not? He was friends with Mr Gilchrist for years,” he added, noting that “any normal, innocent-minded person would naturally help” if they saw their ill friend struggling with so many heavy bags.

Mr Shortt, in his counter speech, told the jury, “there is not a jot – not a sausage – of evidence that Michal Luczak was in possession of drugs”.

“There’s no evidence he’s guilty of anything other than obliging a friend, as we’ve all done. There’s no evidence to suggest anything other than a normal relationship,” he said.

He told the jury the bags were “baggage” and not “cargo”, stating that the latter expression is “misleading” by the state.

He also reminded them that two other individuals described as “spotters” on the ground in Abbeyshrule were never prosecuted, and that they were being asked to “take a leap” and assume their guilt in order to convict Mr Luczak.

“It’s not about the evidence there is, but the evidence there’s not,” he said.

“You heard from Timothy Gilchrist. You didn’t hear from anyone with forensic evidence. You didn’t hear evidence from anyone from Le Touquet. There’s no CCTV footage from the airports that would suggest anything out of the norm.

“The only evidence of what took place in France came from Timothy Gilchrist, and he never varied in his evidence that Mr Luczak didn’t know what was going on,” he said.

Judge Maguire will address the jury on Tuesday morning, after which they will commence their deliberations.