Two English men who transported cocaine and heroin valued at €2.6 million into Ireland in secret compartments in a van have been sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Paul Morgan, (25), Hartersage Rd and Francis McConlough, (23), Chestnut Rd, both Liverpool, pleaded guilty to possession for supply of the heroin and cocaine on February 17th, 2006.
Judge Frank O'Donnell said "the volume and value of drugs brings it into the realm of the most serious the courts have ever had to deal with", adding the amount in this case was "the equivalent of an atomic bomb". He imposed the 12-year sentence, saying he was taking into account the men's guilty pleas and their roles as couriers.
However, he said that both drug barons and couriers were equally responsible and essential to the trade. "From where I sit it is easy to conclude that both the couriers and barons are motivated by money and greed, with no concern for the havoc they wreaked on users or society as a whole." He said those in the drugs industry had a "captive audience addicted to the products" who frequently appeared before the courts for crimes committed on innocent people.
He noted that the men showed "an extreme reluctance to give evidence" saying there "was a very real danger if any information was disclosed that serious retribution such as serious injury or death would ensue".
He added that "it was the nature of the trade that danger is ever present" and that the "execution of one of the top drug barons" showed the "commonality of exposure of all involved in the drugs industry, including big and small fish".
Det Sgt John Baxter told Fergal Foley, prosecuting, that the Garda National Drugs Unit mounted a surveillance operation after receiving information that there was to be a delivery of drugs at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre.