€1.65m cocaine smuggler jailed for 10 years

An unemployed north city man who smuggled cocaine valued at over €1.65m into Ireland has been jailed for 10 years by Judge Donagh McDonagh at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Eugene Lynch (aged 34), of Cromcastle Close, Kilmore, pleaded guilty to possession of 23.6 kilos of cocaine for sale or supply at his home on August 23, 2005.

Lynch was to be paid €10,000 for driving to London, collecting the cocaine and returning home with it. He was in the process of removing the cocaine from his car when gardaí - acting on confidential information - arrived with a search warrant

Detective garda Jim McDermot, of the National Drugs Unit, told Mr Vincent Heneghan BL, prosecuting that over 20 packages of the drug were discovered hidden in his car.

Lynch told gardaí he had run up a drug debt of €3,000 and was threatened by his dealer. He had no previous convictions and lived with his partner and two children.

Det garda McDermot said Lynch had taken a ferry to Hollyhead where he was contacted and told to drive on to London. He met a man at a prearranged destination and his car was taken from him overnight. He stayed in a hotel in Enfield before returning to Dublin.

Ms Isobel Kennedy SC, defending, said Lynch became involved in the offence because he was in fear and had been told that his house would be burned down. She said he had worked on a "need to know basis" and had "limited knowledge" of the individuals who had directed his activities.

Ms Kennedy said Lynch was not a "player" in the drugs scene and had been used by others. He told gardai that if he had known the amount of drugs that were put into his car he would have left the vehicle in London.

"I’m after making the biggest eejit of myself," he said.

Sentencing Lynch to 10 years with the final three suspended, Judge McDonagh said that he was typical of "persons used by the more serious players".