Soheil Jelveh was captain of the MV Matthew when a Dubai-directed network tried to deliver 2.2 tonnes of cocaine to an Irish collection vessel. Before Army Rangers stormed the ship, he arranged a medical evacuation. Gardaí concluded the illness was contrived and found him carrying four phones and $57,000 in cash.

€157mValue of the entire cocaine seizure.
17½ yearsJelveh’s final prison sentence.
€1,733,760Nominal full-term prison-space benchmark.

The captain and the cargo

Jelveh, an Iranian national and qualified maritime engineer, captained the Panamanian-registered bulk carrier as it crossed the Atlantic from Curaçao. An organised crime group based in Dubai directed the operation. The vessel carried approximately 2.2 tonnes of cocaine, valued at €157 million, intended for transfer to the Castlemore off the Irish coast.

The scale figures describe the entire seized shipment. They are not a finding that Jelveh owned €157 million of cocaine or stood to collect its sale proceeds. His individual criminal responsibility is established by his guilty plea and the evidence accepted at sentencing.

A medical evacuation before the raid

As the operation began to fail, Jelveh became ill and was winched from the ship by the Irish Coast Guard. Gardaí accepted that he had contrived the illness to leave the vessel. He had two suitcases, four phones—including satellite and encrypted devices—and $57,000 in cash. Gardaí accepted that the money was payment for his part in the operation.

Jelveh told investigators that he knew the cargo was not “spare parts” but said he followed instructions because he feared the organisers could kill him or his family in Dubai. He also claimed Cumali Ozgen had been placed aboard to kill him. Those were Jelveh’s accounts in mitigation; they do not displace the guilty plea or the court’s sentence.

Warning shots, spoofing and a military boarding

The Castlemore failed to meet the mothership and later ran aground. The MV Matthew then ignored repeated directions from the Naval Service and attempted to evade interception. Warning shots were fired from LÉ William Butler Yeats before Army Ranger Wing personnel fast-roped from an Air Corps helicopter onto the moving vessel in rough seas on 26 September 2023.

The court heard that the group had extensive resources and used Starlink communications, encrypted messaging and location-spoofing software. Members of the crew tried to burn the cocaine before the boarding team saved the evidence. Official Revenue reporting describes the seizure as the largest cocaine interception in the State and the largest in Europe that year.

From remand to a 17½-year sentence

Jelveh appeared at Wexford District Court on 2 October 2023. Bail was refused after Gardaí identified the seriousness of the charges, his lack of connections to Ireland and the risk of flight. He remained in custody.

On 6 February 2025, he pleaded guilty before the Special Criminal Court to possessing cocaine for sale or supply aboard the MV Matthew between 24 and 26 September 2023. On 4 July 2025, Ms Justice Melanie Greally sentenced him to 17½ years’ imprisonment.

The court took account of his guilty plea, family circumstances, prison conduct, apology and the difficulty of serving a long sentence abroad. It also heard that he had no previous convictions. The court nevertheless treated the quantity, planning, international organisation and specialised maritime contribution as exceptionally serious. No later appeal outcome was located in the sources reviewed through 1 August 2026.

A distinct defendant in the same operation

This is not a duplicate of the existing Cumali Ozgen case file. Both men were prosecuted over the same MV Matthew shipment, but they were distinct defendants with different roles and sentences. Jelveh was the ship’s Iranian captain and received 17½ years. Ozgen, a Dutch national described as the criminal organisation’s onboard agent, received 20 years.

The shipment value, interception and vessel-maintenance bill are shared case facts. They must not be counted once for each defendant or represented as the personal property, profit or individual invoice of either man.

Chronology

  • Before September 2023: The MV Matthew is acquired and crewed through a Dubai-based company for a transatlantic voyage directed by an organised crime group.
  • September 2023: Cocaine is loaded off South America and the ship crosses the Atlantic while its location is disguised.
  • 24–26 September 2023: Period covered by Jelveh’s possession-for-sale-or-supply guilty plea.
  • Before 26 September 2023: The intended transfer to the Castlemore fails; Jelveh is medically evacuated and arrested.
  • 26 September 2023: The Joint Task Force intercepts the ship and Army Rangers board it at sea.
  • 2 October 2023: Jelveh is charged at Wexford District Court and remanded in custody after bail is refused.
  • 6 February 2025: He pleads guilty at the Special Criminal Court.
  • 3–4 June 2025: The court hears detailed evidence on the crew, communications and cartel structure.
  • 4 July 2025: Jelveh receives a final sentence of 17½ years.
  • 17–18 July 2026: The detained MV Matthew finally leaves Cork after its disposal.

The taxpayer-cost boundary

The Irish Prison Service reports that an available, staffed prison space cost an average of €99,072 in 2024, excluding capital expenditure. Applying that rate mechanically to Jelveh’s 17½-year term produces a €1,733,760 nominal full-term capacity benchmark.

This is not an invoice, an audited marginal cost or a prediction of actual time served. It holds one system-wide annual average flat for 17½ years and does not account for future cost changes, sentence administration, remission or release. It excludes Garda, Revenue, Defence Forces, Coast Guard, prosecution, court and legal-aid expenditure because no reliable source allocates those costs to Jelveh individually.

Separately, Revenue reported that safely maintaining the detained MV Matthew cost the State approximately €17 million before the ship left Cork in July 2026. That is a shared operation-and-asset cost arising from the entire seizure and prolonged vessel detention. It cannot responsibly be divided among the eight convicted men, attributed to Jelveh alone or added to his individual prison benchmark. The case ledger should count the €1,733,760 benchmark only.

Nationality and status limits

Reliable court reports identify Jelveh as an Iranian national, married with two adult children. At the bail hearing, Gardaí said he had no connections to Ireland; early reports described him as having no fixed Irish address.

The reviewed record does not establish that he was an immigrant, resident, asylum applicant or refugee. It does not identify any Irish residence permission, deportation order or post-sentence removal decision. His documented arrival into Irish custody followed a Coast Guard medical evacuation from the ship. This file makes no broader immigration-status claim.

Questions for public accountability

  1. Will the State publish a complete, itemised cost of the MV Matthew interdiction, investigation, prosecution and vessel detention?
  2. What portion of the approximately €17 million ship bill was recovered through disposal, insurance or another party?
  3. What lessons from the failed at-sea transfer, encrypted communications and location spoofing have been applied to later maritime interdictions?
  4. Which authority will determine Jelveh’s status when his sentence ends, and when will that assessment begin?
  5. How will agencies prevent shared case costs from being counted repeatedly when reporting the burden of multiple defendants?

Sources

Record checked: 1 August 2026. The €157 million cargo value and approximately €17 million vessel cost belong to the shared operation; only the conditional €1,733,760 prison-space benchmark is assigned to this individual file. No asylum, residence, deportation or unreported appellate outcome is asserted.