€6m in cannabis stashed in fake Spanish shoebox consignment

A man from Wicklow has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to drug trafficking offences at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Ryon Fitzpatrick, aged 34 and with an address in Enniskelly, was arrested in October 2020 as he accompanied a van containing approximately 304 kilograms of cannabis concealed in shoeboxes near Swords, County Dublin. The drugs, imported from Spain, had an estimated street value of €6.08 million. Fitzpatrick, who was driving a lookout vehicle, fled to Spain following his initial arrest and questioning but was apprehended there last year and extradited to Ireland in December. Judge Pauline Codd imposed a headline sentence of eleven and a half years, reduced to nine years following mitigation, with the final two and a half years suspended on conditions. Two co-accused, Anthony Kinghorn and Mark Nesbitt, both from England, were separately convicted and received eight-year sentences in 2021 and 2022 respectively.