A Tallaght man found in possession of cocaine with a potential value of €1.9 million in a flat which gardaí described as a "processing plant" has been sentenced to 12 years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Judge Joseph Matthews suspended three years of Keith Mahon's sentence. He heard that the 15 kg of cocaine was worth €1 million but had a value of nearly double that if combined with a mixing agent also found at the flat.
Mahon (30), Brookmount, Tallaght, pleaded guilty to having the cocaine for sale or supply at an apartment on Muckross Avenue, Crumlin, on August 12th, 2005.
Det Sgt Gerard Quinn told Cormac Quinn, prosecuting, that gardaí were called to the address because of a smell coming from the ground floor apartment.
Gardaí forced entry to the premises on grounds that the smell may have posed a risk to health and safety.
Det Sgt Quinn said the flat was unoccupied at the time and gardaí found a large cardboard box, containing white powder in a bedroom. A search warrant was obtained while the flat was kept under surveillance.
Gardaí found more than 15kg of cocaine and powder used as a mixing agent alongside drug paraphernalia such as scales, plastic bags and components of a machine, including a hydraulic pump, used to compress cocaine.
Mahon used a key to enter the flat and told gardaí he took full responsibility for the drugs.
Det Sgt Quinn agreed with Judge Matthews that the apartment could be described as a "drugs processing plant".
Judge Matthews heard that the apartment had been rented by Mahon a year earlier and that he used it exclusively to store and deal with the cocaine before passing it on to others.
Det Sgt Quinn said Mahon had no previous convictions but was a cocaine user and had been introduced to professionals in the drugs trade by an acquaintance.
He was paid to take the cocaine from these people, who provided the rent money, and mix it with an agent which would double its bulk, before returning it to them.
Det Sgt Quinn said the smell which drew attention to the premises came from storing the drugs and the chemical mixing agent in a place where the windows were never opened.
He went to the flat to mix cocaine approximately every three months.
Mahon, who had been paid €30,000, said he had wanted to buy a house and was in debt to the tune of nearly €30,000.