A former soldier in the Rhodesian army who imported cannabis worth nearly €40,000 was sentenced to five years yesterday.
At Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Desmond Lacon Williams (50), South Beach Shelter, Point Road, Durban, pleaded guilty to the possession of drugs with a market value of €13,000 or more and unlawfully importing drugs on June 29th, 2002.
Garda Paul Fahy told Mr Cormac Quinn, prosecuting, that Williams arrived at Dublin Airport on a flight from Paris and was unable to satisfy gardaí at Immigration of the purpose of his visit.
He was escorted to the baggage carousel and when he had collected his bag he was taken to a search room. Underneath a thin layer of clothes gardaí found 10 plastic taped packages containing 15.3 kilos of cannabis herb.
Customs were notified and Williams was arrested and taken to Santry Garda station. Garda Fahy said the drugs had a street value of €39,038. Williams told gardaí that the bag was not his but admitted it was in his possession. He said a man named Anthony gave it to him in Johannesburg.
Williams told gardaí that he left school at 16 and soon after he joined the Rhodesian army because of an ongoing civil war in the country. He served his country for six years and was the victim of a landmine blast from which he still suffered.
After leaving the army he moved to South Africa where he worked for a number of years, but returned to Rhodesia, then Zimbabwe, in 1998, because his stepfather was dying. He moved back to South Africa in November 2001 when his father died but found a very different country from the one he left. He was unable to get a job and was targeted by Nigerians to import cannabis for them.
Garda Fahy said Williams told them that he resisted the Nigerians for three months but eventually succumbed to temptation.
He tried to pull out of the trip but was advised that it wouldn't be a good idea. He was to be paid 8,000 rand (around €800 euro) on his return.
Judge Desmond Hogan said that he was satisfied that a 10-year term would be unduly harsh on Williams. Nevertheless, it was still a serious offence, and so he sentenced him to five years.