A truck driver who drove a lorry which had €2.8 million worth of cocaine hidden under a legitimate cargo of Lego toys has been jailed for five years.
Noel Smullen (58) had a lower level of involvement in the drug importation operation than his co-accused, Killian McNay, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.
McNay (40) of Ardilaun Green, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years earlier this month.
Smullen, of Silverdale, Clara, Co Offaly, admitted unlawful importation of cocaine with a market value over €13,000 at Dublin Port on September 22nd last year.
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Det Gda Kylie Byrne told the court how customs officers at the port became suspicious about an articulated truck driven by Smullen.
Having passed an initial scan by a hand held device, officials decided to do an X-ray of the truck.
This scan revealed a metal compartment concealed in the floor of the flat bed trailer designed to prevent detection. This contained 40kg of cocaine in wrapped blocks.
The court heard McNay had provided the adapted vehicle to Smullen, but both men were involved with packing the drugs.
Smullen has nine previous convictions, including burglary and handling stolen property in 2018, possession of stolen property in 2017 and an assault in 2009.
Aisling Ginger-Quinn, defending, said Smullen was under severe financial stress at the time and was receiving letters from the bank threatening repossession of his home.
She said the father of four had worked most of his life as a haulier nationally and internationally.
Ms Ginger-Quinn said he had previously worked for the co-accused and this man had contacted him on Facebook after a number of years out of contact offering him well-paid work.
She said Smullen assumed this was legitimate work, but when he became aware it involved the importation of drugs he decided to take the risk. He was promised €20,000, but he never got any reward.
Judge Martina Baxter said she had to take into consideration the amount of drugs involved and she said cocaine had “a corrosive effect on society”.
She said this was a sophisticated operation that was planned thoroughly. This planning included Smullen carrying out “a dry run” from the Continent into Dublin Port earlier in the month with the adapted truck.
The judge noted Smullen’s co-operation with investigators, his early guilty pleas and lack of convictions for drug-dealing.
She said she accepted as genuine his expressions of remorse and his apologies.
The judge imposed a custodial sentence of six-and-a-half years, suspending the last 18 months for two years on condition he keep the peace and engage with the Probation Service.
She backdated the sentence to start on September 22nd last year when Smullen went into custody.
