A Bolivian man has been jailed for two years after he agreed to transport cocaine into Ireland in an effort to get money to rebuild his family home.
Ciro Beckerz (21), of no fixed abode, was stopped by gardaí in Dublin Airport last June and later passed 66 pellets, 806 grammes, of cocaine over a five-day stay in Beaumont Hospital. He admitted during interview that he had agreed to transport the drugs, worth €56,000, in return for $2,000.
He said he had been standing at a bus stop in his home town when he was approached and offered cash to transport the drugs. His counsel, Fiona Pekaar, said Beckerz’s father had left the family when he was a baby and he saw himself as head of the household.
The family had been living in a timber house at the time and he felt the cash would give him the money he needed to replace the timber with brick.
Beckerz pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to unlawfully importing cocaine at Dublin Airport on June 20th last. He has no previous convictions.