Dublin grandfather jailed for eight years over €500k cannabis haul

A 56-year-old Dublin man has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment for his role in a €528,000 cannabis importation operation that took place in 2008. The defendant pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possessing 88 kilograms of cannabis at Forrest Little Road, Swords on 8 August 2008. Gardaí had conducted surveillance on a lorry arriving from Liverpool, which was subsequently intercepted near Dublin Airport after cannabis was transferred to another vehicle. The defendant's brother and two other men, including one from County Cavan, were convicted of the same offence. The defendant had previously absconded during his trial in 2011 before being arrested in England, where he had been serving a sentence for a related cannabis conspiracy. Judge Martin Nolan imposed the sentence backdated to February 2015. The defendant's previous convictions include robbery and firearms offences.