Three men caught with drugs worth nearly €3 million have been sentenced to a combined 21 years in prison by Judge Yvonne Murphy at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Patrick Rolston (26), The Courtyard, Midleton, Cork, was jailed for 10 years for having ecstasy worth €1.7 million and cocaine worth €35,000 at his home and for six years, to run concurrently, for having cocaine valued at €200,000 at the M50 toll booth plaza on June 15th, 2004.
Barry Jones (33), Agar Grove, London, with an address in Alicante, Spain, and Albert O'Reilly (35), originally from Clondalkin, also with an Alicante address, both pleaded guilty to having cocaine valued at €800,000 for sale or supply at Bewley's hotel, Clondalkin, on the same date.
Judge Murphy jailed O'Reilly for six years and told him it would have been an eight-year sentence but for his medical condition. She directed that he receive psychological and medical support.
She imposed five years on Jones who she said had played the least significant role in the operation and would be jailed away from his home country. Judge Murphy said Ireland had a significant drugs problem and drug couriers could not expect to receive anything but severe treatment.
Det Garda Darragh O'Toole said that during investigations into drug transactions in Dublin, gardaí received information leading them to suspects staying at Bewley's hotel in Clondalkin.
O'Reilly and Jones had arrived in Dublin Airport from Spain on June 14th and checked into two rooms. The next morning gardaí watched O'Reilly emerge from the hotel and approach Rolston in a parked car. O'Reilly gave Rolston a rucksack which, following his apprehension on the M50, turned out to contain 2.5 kg of cocaine worth €200,000.
Gardaí obtained a search warrant for Rolston's home and found a further 500g cocaine worth €35,000 and 170,000 ecstasy tablets worth €1.7 million in a car parked outside his house.
Det Garda O'Toole said Rolston immediately accepted responsibility for the drugs found in his home in Cork and in the car he was driving through Dublin.
Gardaí also entered Bewley's hotel and found O'Reilly and Jones leaving their rooms. Jones was carrying a suitcase which contained 5 kg of cocaine and O'Reilly had 1 kg tucked into his trousers waistband.
A further 5.5 kg was discovered in their hotel rooms, bringing the total value of cocaine seized from the two men to €800,000.
Det Garda O'Toole said gardaí seized €2.735 million of controlled drugs from the three men on the day.
O'Reilly and Jones had no previous convictions and were both approached in Spanish bars and offered cash to bring drugs into Ireland some weeks before their arrests. Rolston has one previous drug conviction and an addiction to ecstasy. The court heard the Criminal Assets Bureau had no interest in them as they had not profited from the drugs trade.
Mr Michael O'Higgins SC, defending O'Reilly, told Judge Murphy that his client was from an "impeccable background" and had led a stable life until suffering a brain aneurysm in 2000 which resulted in a part of his brain being removed.
O'Reilly's father said his son had been a "great lad" before his illness and continued to have the full support of his family. He had been a "workaholic" before selling up and moving to Spain, having "changed completely".
Mr Brendan Grehan SC said Jones had been of similar good character until his wife committed suicide in 1999. This had a devastating impact on Jones and he also ended up in Spain. Mr Grehan said he was "down on his luck and preyed upon" by traffickers seeking a courier.
Mr Felix McEnroy SC, defending Rolston, told Judge Murphy his client was taking up to 25 ecstasy tablets a day and had incurred a substantial debt.