A MAN has been jailed for 7 1/2 years for drugs offences by Judge Cyril Kelly at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Liam Boland was an assistant of Gerard Kavanagh, who was jailed recently for four years after gardai found him with heroin and cannabis, Det Garda Eamonn Maloney said. Both were arrested on the same occasion.
Gardai found a document on Boland which led to the search of an apartment at Harold's Cross, where heroin with a street value of £100,000 was discovered. Boland accepted responsibility for It.
The document was an application form to the Eastern Health Board for assistance in paying the rent on the Gandon Close apartment, Det Maloney told prosecuting counsel, Mr Eamonn Leahy.
He said Boland also drove a 1995 registered Nissan Micra and lived a good lifestyle, though he drew the dole.
When arrested, Boland made verbal admissions and said the heroin seizure bad set him back "financially and otherwise".
Asked by the judge what Boland meant by this, Det Maloney said it meant he lost money and would be in trouble with other criminals for being caught and allowing the heroin to be found. Boland was not the top man, the witness said. "He was the assistant to Kavanagh, who was the major figure in drugs supplies in the Crumlin, Drimnagh and Dolphins Barn areas of Dublin for some time."
Boland (33) admitted having unlawful possession of 230 grammes of heroin and 53 grammes of cannabis resin for sale or supply on March 21st, 1994. He had no previous convictions apart from a road traffic offence.
Judge Kelly said he had jailed a young female drugs courier this week for four years and a young male courier for 4 1/2 years. In this week alone, only three of the 85 probation reports he had read did not reveal a drugs element.
Det Maloney agreed with defence counsel Mr Hugh Hartnett that Kavanagh made most of the profits from the drugs operation. The Gandon House apartment was leased in the name of Kavanagh's uncle but Boland lived there.
Mr Hartnett suggested to Judge Kelly Kavanagh was "the prime mover" in the operation and bad been under Garda observation. "Kavanagh was known as a major drugs figure," he said.
Both men were arrested after Kavanagh signalled from his Fiesta van to a group of youths standing at Brickfield Park, Crumlin. The group was under observation as a result of confidential information. When the squad car was positioned in front of the van Kavanagh ran from it and threw two packages into bushes.
A Garda sniffer dog unit recovered a lump of about 53 grammes of cannabis hidden in the driver's seat. The cannabis had a street value of between £500 and £600.