A DUBLIN drug dealer has been convicted of transporting €6.4 million worth of heroin in his van.
Michael Byrne (36), Old Tower, Clondalkin, was observed by a Garda surveillance operation unloading the heroin from his van and hiding it in a park.
The jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court found him guilty after over four hours of deliberation and a six-day trial. Disconsolate members of Byrne’s family were directed by Judge Frank O’Donnell to leave court after the jury returned their verdict. Judge O’Donnell remanded Byrne in custody for sentencing next month.
In denying the bail application made on behalf of Byrne, Judge O’Donnell said he was a man who had entered the witness box and given evidence “that flies in the face of all logic”.
Byrne, a self-employed tiler, had pleaded not guilty to possession of 32kg of heroin for sale or supply in the Culmore Road area of Palmerstown on January 15th, 2008.
His trial heard from several detectives involved in the operation, who said they saw Byrne collect the van containing the heroin before he parked it and began to move the drugs into a nearby park.
Giving evidence, Byrne said he would not identify a man who he claimed he loaned the van to, or say where he lived or give a description of him because he feared for his family’s safety.
Byrne told prosecuting counsel Seán Gillane he loaned the van to a friend of his brother, and when he went to pick it up he saw the drugs in the back and panicked. He said he was trying to get rid of them when gardaí moved in on him and chased him through the park.
When asked by Mr Gillane why he would not identify the man he loaned the van to, he responded: “You don’t have to walk outside this court and fear for your life.”