A man operating at the “highest possible level” of a Dublin drug-dealing network has been jailed for 15 years after getting caught with almost €9 million worth of drugs and more than €1 million cash.
Judge Orla Crowe said gardaí are satisfied “no people were higher up nationally” than Andrew Pender (52), of Ely Green, Tallaght, Dublin 24.
The judge said there was a “highly sophisticated operation” involving two vehicles that were adapted to contain hidden compartments to store drugs, a rented shipping container, a stolen Garda uniform and a falsely registered delivery company.
Pender pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of drugs for sale or supply at The Ward, Co Meath, on July 19th, 2024.
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During their investigation gardaí found cocaine worth €4.47 million, ketamine valued at €2.5 million and MDMA worth more than €700,000 in vehicles and a shipping container in rural Co Meath.
Pender also admitted money laundering €1,149,920 in cash at The Ward, his home and his parents’ home also on the same date. He further pleaded guilty to having two vehicles fitted with a compartment giving rise to the inference he possessed it in connection with a drug trafficking offence.
His three previous convictions were for minor road traffic offences.
Sentencing Pender on Wednesday, Judge Crowe noted Pender had a long-standing addiction to cocaine.
She accepted that there was a large number of references before the court that spoke well of him and that he wrote a letter of remorse. She said he did not assist the Garda investigation.
The judge said the Garda evidence was that Pender “managed the entire cell of drug distribution for the Dublin area”. He was responsible for both the movement of cash and drugs, she said.
Pender was in “clear control” of the operation, working “hands on” and at the “highest possible level”, she said.
Judge Crowe said it was an “inherently very grave” case, with Pender “chillingly” in possession of a Garda uniform.
She imposed a 15-year prison sentence.
Judge Crowe acceded to a request from barrister Joe Mulrean, prosecuting, to forfeit to the State the drugs, cash, vehicles and shipping container seized.
She refused an application by Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha, defending, to suspend part of the sentence on the basis of Pender’s chronic drug addiction.
DetInsp Ken Holohan of the Dublin Crime Response Team (DCRT) previously gave evidence that Pender was arrested following an “elaborate ongoing investigation”.
Pender was stopped while driving a Peugeot. A search of the vehicle revealed €9,000 in cash, a small quantity of cocaine and a key. It was soon discovered that this was the key for a rented shipping container in Meath in which there was a van with a sophisticated hidden compartment, a stolen garda uniform, a stab vest and drugs. . In the van’s hidden compartment gardaí found 16 blocks of cash and 2 kgs of cocaine.
Pender had been renting the container for some time at a cost of €200 per month. The two vehicles were registered in others’ names.
His home and his parents’ homes were searched, with documentation and cash found.
Mr Ó Lideadha submitted to the court that Pender had the money and drugs to pay off a drug debt, but gardaí do not accept this.
Counsel said Pender had damaged his nose due to his “chronic cocaine habit”. He had to have part of his nose surgically removed recently as a result.
The Irish Times understands Pender was being supplied with very large quantities of drugs by the Waldron gang, led by David Waldron, working with his brother Christopher Waldron. They were targeted by the Criminal Assets Bureau in a case that concluded just over a year ago.
David Waldron in particular had generated significant wealth, investing it in properties in Dublin and Wexford. He assumed a senior position in the drugs trade in the neighbouring suburbs of Cabra and Finglas after the murder in 2010 of Eamon Dunne, the main drugs gang leader in that area at the time.
After Wednesday’s sentencing, Assistant Commissioner Paul Cleary, who leads policing in Dublin, welcomed the 15-year term imposed, describing it as “very significant”. Though Pender had been caught with almost €9 million worth of drugs and more than €1 million in cash, Mr Clearly described him as a “mid tier” figure.
He was among a group of mid tier dealers - between large wholesalers with international supply contacts and street dealers - now being targeted by Dublin Crime Response Team (DCRT). The response team targeting “tier two” criminals as the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau pursued the biggest gangs and the Garda’s local drug units across the country focused on local street dealing.
Mr Cleary conceded it was “scary” that someone who was not in the top tier of dealers in Dublin had been caught with such a large quantity of drugs and cash. Pender had registered a shell company and had vehicles, in company livery, with hidden compartments for concealing drugs and money as he delivered consignments of drugs into dealers in communities in north and west Dublin.
“I know from my own personal experience that every year we’re seeing larger and larger quantities of drugs and sometimes cash,” Mr Cleary said. “The DCRT, since being set up two years ago, have seized over €48 million worth of drugs and €14 million in cash and gold. So that gives an idea of what the mid-level (drugs) groups are capable of.”
