A COURT was told yesterday that Garda intelligence shows that quite a large number of people in Cork are using cocaine which a judge described as white death.
The court heard that Cork's largest seizure of cocaine took place last August.
Yesterday, in the Cork Circuit Criminal Court, Gary Byron, of Leesdale, Model Farm Road, Cork, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for the purpose of supplying to others on August 24th last at Sarsfield Road, Wilton.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Judge A.G. Murphy, who said that couriers like Byron were very high up in the drugs business because without them the top men themselves would have to take risks.
Sgt Michael Fitzpatrick said that Byron was caught with the cocaine when his car was stopped by a Garda surveillance team. He was on his way to a designated rendezvous point.
He said that while this was the largest seizure of cocaine in Cork, Garda intelligence suggested that quite a large number of people were using this particular drug.
The court was told that Byron, who has never been in trouble before and who comes from a respectable family background, was doing a favour for a friend and he would not have received a large payment for the job.
However, Sgt Fitzpatrick said that Byron had continued to associate with drug dealers.