Corkman jailed after being caught with €700k cannabis stash

Cannabis first detected in holding unit in Spain and gardaí and Customs officers set up joint operation in Cork City which led to accused, court heard

Mon, 12 Jun, 2023 - 19:45

Liam Heylin

Customs Officers and gardaí carried out a joint investigation which resulted in catching a 49-year-old man Cork man with a €700,000 stash of cannabis at a storehouse on Bandon Road in Cork.

Now he has been jailed for five years. Judge Colin Daly imposed a sentence of six years with the last year suspended in the case against Eugene Barrett, with an address at an apartment at Smithgrove Terrace on Middle Glanmire Road, Cork, at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

He affirmed a signed plea of guilty to the charge against him — possession of €700,000 worth of cannabis herb at Ardrostig, Bandon Road, Cork, for sale or supply to others at a time when the street value of the drugs exceeded €13,000, the threshold figure for a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years unless the judge finds there are exceptional circumstances.

Det Garda Eoin O’Toole testified a large consignment of cannabis was first located at a holding unit in Spain. It consisted of 35kg of cannabis with a street value of €700,000.

From the time of the interception of the drugs in Spain, a joint operation was set up in Cork City between customs officers and gardaí.

Judge Daly said in terms of the gravity of the offence that the accused man was involved in in the supply and distribution of a very significant amount of drugs and that his culpability was high.

The judge said he was also taking into consideration the harm caused to society by a drug enterprise such as this.

The five-year jail term was backdated to the date the crime was detected on September 29, 2022. Gardaí objected to bail being granted to the accused at that time and Barrett was remanded in custody since that date.