A major Garda surveillance operation, which included a stakeout in Barna Sningan Woods in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, yesterday resulted in two drug-dealers being jailed for 10 years and six years.
Eamonn Hargan (32) of Beechwood Park, Delgany, Co Wicklow, and Kenneth Flynn (41) of Rathsallagh Park, Shankill, Co Dublin, both pleaded guilty to the possession of heroin for sale and supply.
The surveillance took place in January 1997 when gardai watched Hargan digging up a glass jar containing heroin; the two men were apprehended and Flynn showed them a second jar. The total street value was more than £70,000.
The head of the Divisional Drugs Unit in Dun Laoghaire, Sgt William Wyldes, told the court of Hargan's wealthy lifestyle, which included a house in Delgany costing £67,000, £15,000 of which came from drug-dealing.
The court heard both men are heroin addicts. Hargan progressed from being an addict to a pusher, to importing the drugs from England using couriers to bring them in beer cans.
Flynn was one of his couriers and was paid in drugs.
Sgt Wyldes said Hargan was the major heroin supplier in the Bray and Dun Laoghaire areas and would have been responsible for the drug problem in Bray up to May 1997.
No one had taken over since then, and individuals were buying a gram or two in Dublin and selling it in their own area. Since Hargan's arrest, the number of people involved in heroin had been considerably reduced, he said.
Mr Rex Mackey SC, for Hargan, said his client had joined the French Foreign Legion in Paris and spent four and a half years with them, when he received a medal of honour for his services in Tahiti. He said Hargan's children were not aware their father was a drug dealer.
Judge Raymond Groarke said Hargan was the brains behind the operation and Flynn was a courier. Judge Groarke sentenced Hargan to 10 years and said he would not be reviewing his sentence.
Flynn was sentenced to six years with a review after three years and suspension of the balance if he is drug-free.
He said there was a considerable difference between the two men and he would review Flynn's sentence because it was his view that he should hold out some hope for him.
The Criminal Assets Bureau has frozen Hargan's assets.