Ex-surgeon duped into being €100k drug mule

An eminent US surgeon suffering from early-onset dementia who fell victim to a phishing scam which culminated in him bringing €100,000 of cocaine into Dublin Airport will be sentenced next week.

Carlos Cruz Soriano, aged 76, began responding to phishing emails after becoming isolated and depressed following his retirement from a “glittering career”, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court was told. The scammers told him a long-lost relative had died and he was due to inherit $2.3m.

They gained Soriano’s trust over a number of years, including sending him on a ‘dry run’ to Hong Kong, before flying him to Columbia, where he was given the paperwork for his inheritance as well as a ‘gift’ in a red bag for Irish banking officials who would facilitate the transfer of funds.