A man who was used by an English drugs courier to carry a case with cocaine valued over €200,000 from the luggage conveyor belt at Dublin airport has been jailed for 13 years.
Rashid Shekale (31), Haverweed 40, Soesl, Holland, was found guilty by a jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in February of importing almost 4kg of cocaine and having possession of it for sale or supply on February 7th, 2006.
Ali Mohamed (37), Don Steward Place, Oxford, England, the criminal who organised the importation, was jailed in July 2006 for seven years, with two years suspended after pleading guilty to his role in the crime.
Shekale initially told gardaí, when arrested, that he was carrying the case for an elderly lady he had met coming off the aircraft. He later said he came to Dublin from Amsterdam for a holiday with Mohamed, who he said was his "friend of over three years", although they sat in different parts of the aircraft en route.
He said that Mohamed showed him a case on the conveyor belt at Dublin airport and asked him to take it off. He did so because of his friendship with Mohamed, who then told him to destroy the label on the case. He tore the label into pieces and disposed of them.
Customs officials stopped him as he walked a few steps behind Mohamed towards the exit doors and discovered the cocaine.
Mary Ellen Greene SC, defending, said Shekale had left his native Somalia because of unrest which had cost the life of his father. He had become a Dutch citizen after being granted asylum there seven years ago.
She said Shekale had worked in menial jobs to earn money to send back to his mother and two younger siblings who remained in Somalia. He was putting his siblings through college and had bought his mother a house.
Ms Greene said that during his time in prison, he had saved €2 a day to be able to send €1,000 to his family and was hoping to enrol in an Open University course during his time in jail.
Judge Donagh McDonagh said he was not inclined to be lenient with sentencing. He refused to accept that Shekale was an innocent victim of the "smoke and mirrors operation" to bring the drugs into Dublin.