Carrickmacross Man Pleads Guilty Over €5.25m Cocaine Seizure
Arunas Racyla (54), a Lithuanian businessman living in Carrickmacross, pleaded guilty at Monaghan Circuit Criminal Court to possessing cocaine worth more than €5.25 million for sale or supply. He was remanded in custody for sentencing in January.
By the Monaghan Brief staff·Edited by Seamus McKenna·Published · 2 min read
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Monaghan Courthouse viewed across Church Square. Archive location photograph; not a photo of the events in this story. Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized and colour-graded; cropped in layout.
A 54-year-old Carrickmacross man, Arunas Racyla, has pleaded guilty at Monaghan Circuit Criminal Court to possessing more than €5.25 million worth of cocaine for sale or supply on 13 March 2026, the Anglo-Celt reports. Judge John Aylmer called the offence "very serious" and remanded Mr Racyla, a Lithuanian national, in custody. Sentencing is due in January 2027.
In court
The plea: Mr Racyla pleaded guilty on a full-facts basis, the Anglo-Celt reports.
Reports: the judge directed a probation report, including on his suitability for community service, and a report from the prison governor.
Defence: James McGowan SC, with Dimitry Grinberg BL, said Mr Racyla has lived in Ireland for 22 years and has no previous convictions. He told the court Mr Racyla runs a hot tub and marquee hire business.
The seizure
The cocaine was seized in Co Monaghan on 13 March as part of Operation Tara, An Garda Síochána's anti-drugs operation, by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau. RTÉ reported at the time that Mr Racyla, of Ballyloughan, Carrickmacross, was charged before Judge Raymond Finnegan at Monaghan District Court on 16 March. A woman in her 40s arrested in the same operation was released without charge.
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