Two men jailed in European drugs bust

Two Limerick men involved in a sophisticated million-euro drugs network that stretched through the Netherlands, Germany, England, and the North to a rural cottage in Limerick were yesterday jailed at Limerick Circuit Court.

Shane Ferguson, a 46-year-old carpenter of Meadowbrook, Mill Rd, Corbally, was jailed for seven years and Kieran Nevin, aged 37, of Oliver Plunkett St, St Mary’s Park, was jailed for five years.

The court heard that Ferguson’s involvement was greater than that of Nevin.

Both men had pleaded guilty at the same court last month to possessing cannabis valued at over €1m for sale or supply at Lisnagry on May 25, 2012.

Both men owed money and brought the drugs to Limerick for unnamed persons as an easy way of paying off debts.

Detective Garda Paul Crowley outlined the European network that was uncovered by gardaí and Interpol during the investigation.

Giving details of a surveillance operation centred on the cottage, Det Garda Crowley said that, on May 25, 2012, Ferguson left Limerick in a rented van. He travelled on motorways and at one point, his van was followed by a Jeep, whose driver drove alongside and nodded.

Ferguson then followed the Jeep to an address at Points Pass, Newry.

On arrival, Ferguson loaded five boxes into the van and tore off strippings from the vehicle which carried the van hire company’s name.

He drove back towards Limerick and met with Nevin near Ahane National School.

They swapped vehicles and Nevin drove the van to the cottage at Lisnagry and transferred the boxes from the van into the building.

Both men were intercepted.

On searching the cottage with a warrant, gardaí found the boxes which contained the drugs.

Det Garda Crowley said international courier company UPS was used by the drugs gang.

UPS tracking numbers on the internet showed the journey of the boxes started out at 9.23am on May 24 from Eindhoven in the Netherlands. They were then tracked at Cologne in Germany before arriving at Castle Donington airport in Britain, from where they were brought to an address in Points Pass, Newry,

On searching the house in Newry, following the interception of the drugs in Limerick, the PSNI found five empty boxes similar to the ones used to bring the drugs to Limerick. Strips with the van hire company name used by Ferguson were found in a bin.

Det Garda Crowley said the Garda Síochána and Interpol investigation uncovered a sophisticated drugs supply operation connecting Limerick, the North, Britain, Germany, and the Netherlands.