FOUR men are to plead guilty to a number of charges including the importation of cocaine following the seizure of almost €31m worth of the Class A drug in Courtmacsherry.

The four appeared at Bandon District Court last Thursday where solicitors indicated to Judge Joanne Carroll that their clients would be entering signed guilty pleas at their circuit court trials.

Ben Sandford (39), of Keith, Moray, Scotland; Christopher Hibbett  (44), of Truro, Cornwall, England; Mark Doherty (40) of Glasgow, Scotland and Levent Gulay (31) with an address in Bavaria, Germany  were arrested at Meelmane, Courtmacsherry on July 1st. Sgt Tom Mulcahy said they were charged with the possession of cocaine; the possession of cocaine for the purpose of sale or supply; the possession of cocaine in excess of €13,000 and the importation of cocaine.

They are also being charged with the possession of articles giving rise to the inference that they were connected to drug trafficking contrary to Section 183 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006.

Mr Doherty was charged with the possession of a Motorola mobile phone suspected of being connected to drug trafficking, while Mr Gulay was charged with the possession of a Google Pixel 8 mobile phone also suspected of being connected to drug trafficking.

Mr Sandford and Mr Hibbett were both charged with the possession of a rigid inflatable boat (RIB) suspected of being connected to drug trafficking.

Judge Carroll issued all four accused alibi warnings and indicated that if they intend to use an alibi they must notify the State within 14 days of last Thursday’s court appearance.

She sent all four forward to the next sittings of Cork Circuit Criminal Court commencing February 10th 2026 remanding them in custody until that date.