A man who was caught with heroin worth almost €500,000 after he sold drugs to an undercover garda, has been jailed for seven years.
Emmanuel Ashibougwu (26), originally from Nigeria but with an address at Crescent Villas Limerick, was arrested by gardaí last August during an elaborate operation set up to target drug trafficking by foreign nationals in the Limerick region.
Operation Ivory led to the seizure of heroin worth €500,000 - the biggest single seizure of the drug in the Limerick region.
Before jailing Ashibougwu for seven years at Limerick Circuit Court yesterday, Judge Carroll Moran praised gardaí for the "capable manner" in which they apprehended the man and co-accused Mohammad Kargbo, during the undercover operation.
A native of Sierra Leone but with an address at Anne Street Limerick, Kargbo was jailed for one year yesterday after he pleaded guilty to possession of heroin with intent for sale or supply on August 18th last.
Ashibougwu received a seven-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to the more serious charge of possession of heroin with intent for sale or supply.
Earlier this month the court heard how Det Sgt Ronan McDonagh contacted Ashibougwu who told him that he had 2.5kg of heroin for sale.
An arrangement was made to buy one kilo for €25,000 and a meeting was set up between Ashibougwu and undercover garda Pádraig Sutton.
Garda Sutton met Ashibougwu on Henry Street, bringing with him a plastic bag containing 25 bundles of paper to give the "semblance" of large amounts of cash. Ashibougwu asked Garda Sutton if he was a policeman and if he was wired. He warned the garda that he would kill him if he "f****d him over".
The undercover garda was in constant contact with Sgt McDonagh and after a pre-arranged signal, he went with Ashibougwu to a nearby cul-de-sac where the drugs were handed over.
Kargbo acted as a lookout and he was not aware of the type or value of drugs being sold.
Judge Moran said the Nigerian father of one was entitled to a sentence reduction because of his guilty plea and because he had no serious previous convictions.
He acknowledged that it was difficult for a foreign man and "in particular a black man" to be incarcerated in an Irish prison and reduced Ashibougwu's sentence by a further year because he was a "black Nigerian man".