A man who imported €300,000 worth of cocaine has been jailed for 10 years by Judge Yvonne Murphy at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
James Jegede (22), living in Lagos, Nigeria, who left Ireland at four years of age, pleaded guilty to two charges of possession of the drugs for sale or supply, one of possession and one of unlawfully importing cocaine into the State, at Dublin airport on November 18th, 2003.
He claimed he was returning to Ireland to continue his education.
Garda Jane Heaney, of Santry, told Paul Green, prosecuting, that Jegede initially denied the offences but was found guilty by a jury of all four charges on February 17th on the fourth day of the trial.
Garda Heaney told Mr Green that Jegede was stopped by custom officials as he got off a flight from Frankfurt where he had travelled from Nigeria. He was searched, and his suitcase was found to contain 2.5kg of cocaine, hidden in the shell of the luggage under the lining.
Jegede told Garda Heaney that he was an Irish citizen but had returned with his family to Nigeria 16 years earlier.
He said he was unaware of the contents of the suitcase and that his airline tickets and luggage had been organised for him by a man he called "Ralph".
Garda Heaney said Jegede had family in Limerick, and he told gardaí he was going to stay with them until he registered to study with the National College of Ireland in Dublin.
Jegede has no previous convictions in Ireland or Nigeria.
Peter Finlay SC (with Garrett Baker) defending, said Jegede's father had travelled from Nigeria to tell the court his son had never caused him any trouble and had done well in school.
Mr Finlay said his client acknowledged the "reckless behaviour" he had engaged in and the trouble drugs brought to people.
He said Jegede was very sorry to have brought himself to the attention of the State.
Judge Murphy said there was a serious drug problem in Ireland and people like Jegede played an essential role in the drugs trade. She said that when they willingly entered into it they could not expect anything but serious punishment, as had been pointed out by higher courts.
She sentenced Jegede to 10 years in prison but suspended the last two because she took into consideration the fact that he had no previous convictions and would be serving his sentence in a foreign country rather than in his native Nigeria. She backdated the sentence to November 18th, 2003, when Jegede first went into custody for the offence.