A LIMERICK inane arrested with £100,000 worth of ecstasy tablets has been jailed for three years.
The Circuit Court President, Mr Frank Justice Spain, said he would review the case on April 10th, 1997. He also requested chat George Browne (40), get all necessary drug counselling.
Browne, of St Patrick's Road, Limerick, pleaded guilty to having 4,418 tablets for sale or supply in Castletroy on April 7th, 1995. He was to be paid 200 tablets to collect the drugs for a "Mr Big" in Limerick following the loss of his job as a taxi driver, a detective told Mr Bruce Antoniotti, prosecuting.
Browne paid a taxi driver £150 for a round trip from Limerick to the Green Isle Hotel in Dublin, where a contact gave him the ecstasy tablets.
At Castletroy, gardai stopped the car and 200 of the tablets were found in a bag in Browne's shirt pocket. Browne pointed out another bag containing the rest of the drugs which he had hidden in the front passenger seat. The haul would have been worth £100,000 in 1995.
Browne made a statement of admission but refused to name the organiser of the drugs run, claiming he would "get a bullet". He had abused ecstasy for a while but stopped because he believed bit was a young person's drug. He was recruited to the drugs run after his taxi business collapsed.
He said the taxi driver was not involved in the crime.