Beef farmer jailed for eight years after transporting €2.5m cocaine

Latvian lorry driver told gardaí that Russian man said he would be paid between €150 and €200 to take a consignment of boxes in his lorry

Man pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to having the 36kg of cocaine, worth €2.52m, for sale or supply. Picture: iStock

A Latvian beef farmer who was working in Ireland as an international lorry driver has been jailed for eight years after he agreed to transport over €2.5m worth of cocaine.

Dmitrijs Venskovics, aged 45,  told gardaí, through an interpreter, that a Russian man approached him and told him he would be paid between €150 and €200 to take a consignment of boxes in his lorry. He said he was told they contained cocaine and was given an Irish phone number to call when he had parked his vehicle at a certain location.