A haulier found in possession of cannabis and cocaine with a combined value of almost €15 million has been jailed for 10 years by Judge Joseph Matthews at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Colm McDonald (38), of Racecourse Cummon, Lusk, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis weighing 978.8 kilos worth €12.420 million and 30.08 kilograms of cocaine worth €3.1 million on April 19th, 2003.
Detective Garda Omurchu Murphy told prosecuting counsel, Mr Fergal Foley BL, that the cannabis was packed in 36 bales and found in a hidden compartment under the floor of a lorry which McDonald was driving. The cocaine was found in a suitcase hidden in his garage.
Det. Garda Murphy said that, in addition to being in the haulage business, McDonald also worked in repossessing vehicles. The lorry in which the drugs were found was a vehicle he had repossessed for a business based in Scotland.
Gardai uncovered the drugs during a surveillance operation mounted on foot of confidential information. Officers followed the truck on the main Dublin to Belfast road until it arrived at Bentley’s, a container yard in Treen Hill, Lusk.
Evidence of recent welding was detected in the container part of the truck and gardai found and uncovered a secret compartment where the cannabis was contained.
The cocaine, which gardai had observed being removed in a suitcase from the lorry, was later found in a shed in McDonald’s house.
The truck had ostensibly been used for transporting peat briquettes. McDonald had driven it on April 14th, 2003 from Rosslare to France where the briquettes had been dropped off. The truck then went onto Spain and returned to Rosslare on April 19th, 2003 with the drugs.
Det Gda Murphy said McDonald’s co-accused, Julian Gilloughley (28), originally from Cloghran, County Dublin but with an address at Henrietta Street, Dublin 1, was employed by McDonald at the time and had travelled in the lorry with McDonald when the drugs were collected.
Judge Desmond Hogan jailed him for five years on July 30th, 2004 after evidence was heard that Gilloughley only "became involved because of a real and present fear of violence being perpetrated against himself and his family."
Citing exceptional circumstances, Judge Hogan did not impose the mandatory minimum 10 year sentence and also suspended the last two years of the five year sentence.
The DPP, however, later appealed the leniency of the sentence at the Court of Criminal Appeal which increased Gilloughley’s sentence to seven years.