A man caught loading £2 million worth of cannabis into a van has been jailed for 6 1/2 years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
William Hynes shouted at a co-accused to keep his mouth shut as they were being raided by the National Drugs Unit. He later told gardai he feared he would be shot if he admitted who he was working for.
Garda Paul Doran said members of the drugs unit, acting on confidential information, had followed a lorry into Ashbourne, Co Meath. The lorry parked behind a pub and Hynes drove up in a van.
As he was transferring the cannabis into the van, gardai moved in. They found 210 kg of cannabis, with a street value of £2,010,000.
Hynes (33), a roofer, of Dunsink Avenue, Finglas, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply on April 5th, 1998. Defence counsel Mr Erwin Mill-Arden accepted Hynes told a co-accused to keep his mouth shut as they were being arrested.
He had not assisted gardai after his arrest but since pleaded guilty.
Judge Elizabeth Dunne said Hynes was a "small cog in the drugs wheel" but no wheel could turn without all the cogs in place.
She noted that a trial lasting at least two weeks had been expected before Hynes pleaded guilty. She suspended the last 18 months of his sentence.