A Co Kildare man who told gardaí he was paid €100 to transport cannabis valued at more than €3.2 million has been jailed for six years.
Francis Cox (54) of Hazelmere, Naas, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of 161.5kg cannabis at the M50 motorway on March 20th, 2024.
Det Garda Niall Cleary of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau told the court an operation was put in place and a van being driven by Cox was stopped on the motorway.
A mobile phone and a lottery ticket were among the items found in the van, which Cox said was his property. The rear of the van was searched, and boxes of suspected cannabis were found.
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After gardaí searched the van, they cautioned Cox, who denied knowing what was in it, saying: “I don’t know. All I was told was to meet a fella…I didn’t know what was in it.”
He was interviewed on three occasions where he told gardaí he couldn’t give information because he was scared for his life.
In the third interview, Cox told gardaí he got €100 for driving the van.
He told gardaí he was on disability allowance of €220 a week. He said he had a motorbike accident and broke his collarbone. He also said he had had a heart bypass the previous October. He said he was separated from his wife and had two children and was approached to drive the van.
Passing sentence, Judge Martin Nolan said he was satisfied Cox, who has no previous convictions, was “a low-level operative” whose function was to transport drugs. The judge said there was no evidence of wealth.
“It seems he was in financial straits at the time. He was prey to temptation,” said the judge before jailing him for six years.
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