“I’ll smoke it tomorrow,” a lorry driver allegedly found transporting more than €1 million worth of cannabis told investigating gardaí, a court has heard.
Andrew Cooley (32) from Ballyoran, Dundalk, Co Louth, was arrested at Dublin Port at 1.45am on Saturday driving a truck that had arrived on a boat from Holyhead.
The father of two was charged with unlawful possession of 55.4kg of cannabis, with an estimated value of €1,108,000, for the purpose of sale or supply.
On Monday, he appeared at Dublin District Court where Garda Dylan Mallon objected to bail due to flight risk concerns.
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The garda alleged a customs officer engaged with Mr Cooley and smelled cannabis coming from the truck.
A search of the cab allegedly led to finding black bags covered by clothes.
The contested bail hearing was told there were 31 black packages allegedly containing cannabis.
Gardaí took Mr Cooley to Store Street station and interviewed him several times. It was alleged he admitted ownership and told gardaí: “I’ll smoke it tomorrow.”
The garda feared the accused would evade justice because he had travelled to Europe multiple times as a driver, and his work was transferable.
Defence solicitor Luke Staines said information from his client’s employer showed Mr Cooley had never gone to continental Europe and had only travelled in Ireland and England.
The defence stressed that Mr Cooley has ties to Ireland and has children here, while there was nothing to suggest he would leave the jurisdiction.
Mr Staines said his client could face two years on remand until his trial.
The solicitor told the court the driver would obey conditions and furnish a satisfactory address.
Judge Michele Finan reserved her decision on the bail application until Friday. She granted legal aid.
