Meath man pleads guilty to importation of heroin

A Meath aviation broker has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to import 50kg of heroin worth €10m from Belgium.

John Kinsella (aged 38) of Carenwood, Johnstown, Navan pleaded guilty the day before his trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to conspiring with others to import heroin and cocaine between September 22 and 26, 2006.

Four people, including two pilots, were arrested at Wevelgem in south Belgium when authorities found the drugs in the luggage of a passenger trying to board an Irish private jet.

The plane had flown from Weston Airport in Kildare to Wevelgem on September 26, 2006 and was due to return the same day.

Judge Tony Hunt remanded Kinsella in custody until his sentence later this week.