Two English men who pleaded guilty to importing the drug khatt into Ireland were each sentenced to six months in prison yesterday.
The men were detained at Shannon Airport in Co Clare after arriving on a flight from London. Customs officers found the African rown drug hidden in luggage. Gardai estimated that the drug was worth up to £150,000 on the American market.
Frederick Stanley Moyse (25) and Sidney Roy Beale (23), both with addresses in London, were sentenced by Judge Kevin O'Higgins at Ennis Circuit Court.
The plant is illegal in this country but it is not a controlled drug in other jurisdictions.