A FORMER Cork based freight manager gave evidence in a London court yesterday of how he was paid in bundles of cash, containing £1,000 each, for transporting boxes on behalf of Mr John Gilligan.
The evidence was heard at a committal hearing at Belmarsh Magistrate's Court, London, which is expected to last three days.
Mr Gilligan, who was arrested at Heathrow Airport n October 6th, 1996, has been charged with concealing money which represents the proceeds of drug trafficking. He is also charged with an offence relating to the proceeds of drug trafficking for another person.
He was arrested attempting to board a flight to Amsterdam with £330,000 concealed in his brief case. He claimed the money was the proceeds of professional gambling and was being used to buy property in Holland.
Mr John Dunne, a former operations manager with the Cork based freight company, Seabridge Ltd, told the court yesterday of his first meeting Mr Gilligan in March or April of 1994 in a car park near Mr Dunne's workplace.
The meeting was ostensibly to arrange the transportation of "spare parts for trucks" between Holland and Ireland, which Mr Dunne agreed to handle through Seabridge Freight.
He said he did not become aware of Mr Gilligan's alleged drug links until he read an article in the Sunday Independent in April 1996.
Mr Dunne said the shipments were always cardboard or wooden containers. They would be left at a pre arranged point in Cork for him to collect. He would bring them in his car to the car park of the Ambassador Hotel, Naas, Co Kildare.
It was only following the publicity surrounding his associate that Mr Dunne thought of questioning the arrangement, but he never discussed his worries with Mr Gilligan.