Gardaí smash international drug-smuggling operation

DRUGS squad gardaí working in co-operation with their British counterparts smashed a drug-smuggling operation where a gang consisting of criminals from England and South America were attempting to set up a new system for getting cocaine into Ireland.

The matter came to light in Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday as Roland Hutchinson, aged 24, of 42 Wadsworth Drive, Sheffield, was sentenced to five years in jail with the last two years of the sentence suspended by Judge Patrick J Moran.

Detective Sergeant Lar O’Brien said there was an ongoing investigation in Britain of a number of individuals and gardaí were tipped off by these investigators about Hutchinson who arrived in Dublin Port on November 24 last.