A CHARGE under drug trafficking legislation was preferred against Mr John Gilligan in a London police station last night.
Mr Gilligan (44), with an address at Corduff Avenue, Blanchardstown, Co Dublin, was remanded in custody at Heathrow Airport police station and will appear before Uxbridge Magistrates court in Middlesex at 10 a.m. today.
He is charged under section 49 (part one) of the Drug Trafficking Act, 1994, which relates to the concealment of money in order to avoid a drug trafficking offence.
Mr Gilligan had been questioned for more than 24 hours by Customs officers at Heathrow's custody suite, in the presence of his solicitor, before he was transferred to the nearby police station.
He was arrested at Heathrow airport on Sunday afternoon as he boarded an aircraft for Amsterdam carrying £300,000 cash in his hand luggage. It is understood the money, made up of Irish pounds, sterling, and guilders, has been seized for forensic tests.
Mr Gilligan has publicly stated that gardai suspect him of being, involved in the murder of Veronica Guerin.
A second man, Mr Michael" Cunningham, (46), from Dublin, who was believed to be travelling with Mr Gilligan, was also detrained at Heathrow.
After being questioned by British Customs officers, Mr Cunningham was arrested yesterday by West Yorkshire police officers in connection with armed robberies in the area during the early 1980s.
A West Yorkshire police spokesman said Mr Cunningham was being held at a local police station. "He was arrested by officers in relation to an outstanding, warrant and has been transferred to west Yorkshire," he added. Mr Cunningham was released from Portlaoise prison earlier this year after serving 10 years for the kidnapping of Mrs Jennifer Guinness in 1986.
John Maher writes:
Two gardai spent the day at Heathrow as British Customs continued their inquiries into the money found in Mr Gilligan's hand luggage. A Garda superintendent working at the Criminal Assets Bureau flew to London on Sunday night, along with a detective who is part of the team investigating the Guerin murder. The two brought information about the finances of a criminal network uncovered by gardai in Dublin, and the surrounding counties since June.