Garda surveillance catches man with €7m worth of cannabis

Outstanding garda surveillance work led to a man being caught with €7m worth of cannabis resin that were stacked in crates in the back of a van outside Dublin’s Phoenix Park.

Judge Patrick McCartan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court commended the "the outstanding piece of work" of Detective Garda Jim McDermot and members of the Garda National Drug Unit which led to the arrest of 21-year-old David Doyle and his co-accused, who denies the charges and is awaiting trial.

Doyle of Ballygall Parade, Finglas, was sentenced to seven years in prison, after he pleaded guilty to possession of the drugs for sale or supply on November 15, 2005 outside Parkgate Street, Dublin 7.

He had five previous convictions, one of which was a Circuit Court conviction for theft and the others were dealt with in the District Court.

Judge McCartan took into account Doyle’s early plea and the fact that he had taken responsibility for the find. He was a cannabis user at the time but has since rehabilitated and is drug free.

He suspended the last three years of the sentence as "a means of encouraging Doyle to mend his ways". He noted that he has a young child and is now aware of his responsibilities.

Det Garda McDermot told Mr Tom O’Connell SC (with Ms Caroline Biggs BL), prosecuting, that gardaí received confidential information that a van had picked up a "quantity of cannabis resin" from the JFK Industrial Estate on the Naas Road.

A surveillance operation was launched which led to the gardaí stopping the van that day on Parkgate Street. Doyle was a passenger, while his co-accused was the driver. The drugs were found stacked in timber crates in the back of the vehicle.

Det Garda McDermot agreed with defence counsel Mary Ellen Ring SC that Doyle fully co-operated with the gardaí during interview and took responsibility for his role in the operation.

He accepted that the majority of her client’s previous convictions were dealt with in the District Court and he had never been charged with a drug offence.