A man who hid drugs valued at €334,000 (£263,000), and eight shotgun cartridges in a ditch has been jailed for seven years by Judge Kevin Haugh at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Barry Meates (22), of Forest Hills, Rathcoole, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis resin for sale or supply on November 16th, 2000, and to possession of over €12,700 (£10,000) worth of cannabis and ecstasy tablets on or about November 15th, 2000. He also admitted the unlawful possession of eight shotgun cartridges on or about the same date.
Sgt Fergal Foley told Mr Des Zaidan, prosecuting, that gardaí received information on November 15th that a bag containing drugs was hidden in a ditch at Windmills Hill in Rathcoole.
When they searched the area they found a black bin liner containing 24 bags of ecstasy tablets and nine nine-ounce bars of cannabis resin. The shotgun cartridges and drugs paraphernalia were also found.
Gardaí removed some of the contents and returned the bag to where they found it. They then set up a surveillance operation on the surrounding area. The following morning a car pulled up and Meates got out. As he retrieved the bag he was arrested.In total 23,547 ecstasy tablets were found.
Meates refused to name his supplier as he was in fear of his life.
Sgt Foley agreed with Mr Michael O'Higgins SC, defending, that the accused was merely a "warehouse man" and made no profit from this enterprise. He had developed a heroin addiction some years back. Judge Haugh accepted that Meates was nothing more than a small cog in the drug industry wheel.