A drug addict who "ferried" €174,000 worth of heroin was jailed years for seven years yesterday by Judge Donagh McDonagh at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Eoghan Doyle (27) of St Aongus Green, Tallaght, pleaded guilty to possession of heroin on Kiltipper Way, Tallaght, on October 13th, 2004.
Judge McDonagh said Doyle "ferried drugs for the crime bosses who were too canny to get caught themselves".
He was satisfied there were "constraints surrounding him at the time" and noted that although Doyle was "a vital link in the distribution chain", he had his fingers broken by those he owed money to for drugs.
Garda David Carolan told RóisíLacey, prosecuting, that Doyle was the front-seat passenger in a car stopped by gardaí on Kiltipper Way, where a black holdall bag containing heroin valued at €174,000 was found. A further search of Doyle in Tallaght Garda station revealed a small bag of heroin worth €600 in his left sock, which he claimed was his payment for transporting the drugs.
Garda Carolan said Doyle admitted he was going to Kiltipper to drop the bag off after he was earlier told over the phone where he could pick it up. He knew the drugs that were in the bag were valuable because he had "never seen that large an amount in my life".
Garda Carolan agreed with Patrick Gageby SC, defending, that gardaí were satisfied that Doyle's only role in the operation was to act as a courier. He had known Doyle to be a drug addict for a number of years and there was no evidence of him "having lived the high life".
Mr Gageby told Judge McDonagh that his client had attended two drug rehabilitation centres and was making efforts to control his drug habit.
Mr Gageby said gardaí accepted that Doyle was "a small cog in the wheel" and was not a participant in the operation of the "big boys". He was being exploited by those higher up because he owed them money.