Tony McEnery was typical of the new wave of drug dealers, feeding a growing market for "recreational" drugs in rural Ireland.
When gardai raided his apartment in Waterford city in August 1996, most of the £8,500 worth of ecstasy tablets, amphetamine sulphate (or speed), cannabis and cocaine was cut and ready for sale.
Unlike most dealers sentenced for trafficking, McEnery was not a career criminal. He came from a good family in Waterford and trained as a cabinet-maker, which trade he gave up when he found drug-dealing more lucrative about 10 years ago, a Garda source said. He had only one previous conviction, for possession of a small quantity of cannabis in 1992.
McEnery had been paying the £400 monthly rent on the two-bedroom apartment in the Canada Square area of Waterford, although he did not have a job.
The drugs were found in plastic bags in his living room. The cannabis resin was in ounces, ready for sale.
Gardai believe he was working with another Waterford man with a more serious criminal record, and the two-man gang had a number of "lieutenants" selling the drugs for them around the pubs and night-clubs of Waterford and south Leinster.
Det Sgt Terry Butler welcomed yesterday's court decision, describing it as a "major breakthrough in drug investigation."
The sentence is the longest handed down to a drug-dealer outside Dublin. Last week Naas Circuit Court sentenced a Co Meath man to six years, with the last two suspended, after he was arrested with £13 million worth of amphetamine sulphate and cocaine. His associate, a Dutch national, was sentenced to 10 years, also with the last two suspended. Both men had pleaded guilty. The drugs were believed to be destined for the British market.
Cocaine has become a large part of the Waterford drug scene that had been dominated until recently by cannabis, and to a lesser extent ecstasy and speed. A seizure of 2kg of cocaine was believed by gardai from the National Drugs Unit to be destined for the Waterford market.
McEnery had been under surveillance by gardai from the local drugs unit. Asked if the operation had a code name one Garda source said, "No, but let's call it Operation Celebration now."
