'Charity worker' who imported cocaine is jailed

A MAN who imported over €200,000 worth of cocaine under the guise of a charity worker on a lecture tour has been sentenced to…

A MAN who imported over €200,000 worth of cocaine under the guise of a charity worker on a lecture tour has been sentenced to five years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Warren James (64) from Australia, who has a previous conviction for rape nearly 30 years ago, said he was approached at his home in Kampala, Uganda, by a man who asked him to work for a charity called Action Africa. He was told this would involve going to Britain to fundraise and lecture on African issues.

He claimed he was approached because he “had experience with the Ugandan government, and was white”. He was taken to Nairobi, Kenya, where he met the director of the “charity” and was lectured on the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

James told gardaí the director then gave him a travel bag containing new clothes, saying he would need to look well-dressed when giving lectures in London.

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Det Garda Frank O’Neill told prosecuting counsel Paul Greene that James flew from Nairobi to Dublin via Zurich, and was stopped by Customs officials in Dublin on September 10th, 2007.

Customs officials searched his bag and found three kilograms of cocaine worth €210,000 hidden in the lining. James accepted ownership of the bag, but claimed he was unaware the drugs were there.

He was arrested and told gardaí he was just visiting Dublin for a few days before going to London. Det Garda O’Neill accepted the cocaine was probably destined for the British market. James had €700 on him when arrested, which he received in payment for his trip.

Det Garda O’Neill said James was divorced with an estranged family in Australia, and had been living in Uganda for several years. He has several previous convictions accrued in Australia in 1980 for which he served time in prison. These include rape, carnal knowledge, indecent assault, escape and burglary.

Gardaí were unable to confirm his profession in Uganda, but he claimed he was involved in several businesses, including work for the Ugandan government.

After he was taken into custody in September 2007, he was diagnosed with brain cancer which spread but has since gone into remission. He is still suffering the effects of radiation treatment and doctors believe there is a 23 per cent chance of the cancer returning.

Defence counsel Roger Sweetman said James was a “small player” who was highly co-operative with gardaí and gave them information which “in some way assisted with other people involved in the enterprise”.

He said his client was naive and had no previous convictions which were relevant to the current offence.

Judge Patrick McCartan called James’s claim that he was unaware he was carrying drugs “utterly improbable and totally unbelievable”.

He sentenced him to five years in prison, but suspended the final two on condition that on his release he leaves the country and does not return for 10 years.