Irishman and Dutch national jailed over attempt to ship drugs worth £13m to Britain

Two members of a gang which was involved in an attempt to ship large amounts of amphetamine sulphate and cocaine to Britain were sentenced yesterday at Naas Circuit Court in Co Kildare.

Wilrik Schippers (39), a Dutch national, and Paul David Kenny (33), of Ashbourne Road, Duleek, Co Meath, were sentenced to 10 and six years, respectively, by Judge Gerard Matthews after they pleaded guilty to possession of drugs worth £13 million last November. Both men had the final two years of their sentences suspended.

The street value of the amphetamine, or "speed", and cocaine found in a red Datsun stopped on the Dublin road was originally estimated at £8 million. However, a senior Garda source said that the 97kg of speed and the 4kg of cocaine were found to be 70 per cent pure, one of the highest purities ever in synthetic drugs seized in the State.

Kenny was arrested at Moy valley, Co Kildare, on November 7th, after he was stopped by gardai and the drugs were found in the car. Schippers was arrested at a pub in Enfield, Co Meath. The men had been under surveillance in a Garda National Drugs Unit initiative codenamed "Operation Woodbine".

The two are believed to have been part of an Anglo-Irish gang with Dutch connections and the drugs were destined for the British market. The drugs, in powder form, had been shipped to Ireland and were being stored near Enfield. They were bound for Britain when the men were arrested.

When Kenny was charged with two counts of possession and possession with intent to supply, he replied: "Guilty. It was going out of the country."

Schippers, said to be a senior member of the gang, had a number of minor convictions for burglary and housebreaking in Holland.

Kenny was described by a senior Garda source as a minor "donkey" in the operation. The consignment, which would have cost the gang about £1 million, is believed to have come from Amsterdam.

"Operation Woodbine" involved co-operation between the gardai and the Dutch police. About 15 members of the Garda National Drugs Unit and eight Dutch police officers took part in it.