Cannabis with a street value of over £1 million was sold to Galway drug dealers from a remote county council cottage, it was revealed yesterday. The drug-dealing operation was ended when gardai raided the cottage following a two-month surveillance operation by the drugs unit.
A court in Gort, Co Galway, was told that well-known dealers from Galway city had been observed calling to the house.
English-born William Frederick Scrivens (42), a self-confessed drug user, admitted possession of cannabis for supply to others following the Garda raid last February on his home at Lissbrien, Derrybrien, Co Galway.
A Garda witness told Judge Al O'Dea that they estimated the accused had sold cannabis with a street value of over £1 million during an 18-month period.
Scrivens in a statement to gardai admitted that "on a good week" he could sell five kilos of cannabis worth up to £2,800 a kilo.
The accused, who admitted he was a drug user for 28 years, said he had a regular supplier who supplied him with between five and 10 kilos of cannabis at a time. He would make between £200 and £300 profit per kilo. The drug was sold to dealers from Galway city as well as to "rural dealers" supplying Co Galway.
He told how he kept the drug in "a stash" in the forest and sometimes buried it underground. His regular supplier, who he would prefer not to name, would call to his house between 8 and 10 a.m. In a period covering a year and a half, he had sold about 100 kilos of hash on to the Galway city and county markets. He also supplied tabs of acid and LSD. The court was told that Scrivens developed a serious heroin problem while living in London's inner city. He moved to Ireland 10 years ago, where he has since lived with his wife and six children.
His solicitor, Mr Sean Acton, told the court yesterday that Scrivens lost everything he owned two and a half years ago in a fire which destroyed his home and workshop. He was now studying Chinese medicine. This was his first conviction.
Mr Acton said his client had in fact gone out of business when the gardai called to his home, where there was no sign of a life of great wealth.
Judge O'Dea said that the accused was "a fairly substantial dealer" who had on his own admission been making up to £1,000 a week.
He adjourned sentence to January 25th for consideration of a probation report.