Printer gets four years for cocaine offences

A man who had cocaine manufacturing and mixing equipment in his house in Co Meath as well as over two kilos of the drug with …

A man who had cocaine manufacturing and mixing equipment in his house in Co Meath as well as over two kilos of the drug with an estimated street value of €140,000, has been jailed for four years by Trim Circuit Court.

Derek Jones (29), of Millbrook Estate, Navan pleaded guilty to possessing the drug for the purpose of sale or supply to others at his address on August 26th, 2005.

The court heard he was holding the cocaine because he was in debt to his drug supplier. A garda from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation told the court that Jones was put under surveillance and he was seen driving to Belshamstown, Drumree, Co Meath, where he got out of his car and spoke to the driver of another vehicle.

The other driver, Fergus Hannigan, of Griffith Road, Glasnevin, Dublin, has also pleaded guilty to a drugs offence and will be sentenced later this year.

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Jones was arrested and while in custody told gardaí that in a toolbox under his bed they would find "stuff". A follow-up search revealed the drugs and manufacturing equipment. The court heard Jones was a full-time printer and around December 2004 developed a cocaine habit. His defence barrister said that after his mother died, difficulties arose with his father. He developed a problem dabbling in drugs.

Judge Pat McCartan said Jones was "not just a pure mule" but "a level up" and the fact that he went to collect more drugs suggested he was not just a minder. His house was equipped to manufacture drugs for distribution, he added.