Airport worker jailed for six years for role in cocaine smuggling

By Fiona Ferguson

An airport worker has been jailed for six years after picking up a portion of one million euro worth of cocaine in a toilet cubicle in order to bypass custom and move the drugs out of the airport.

Bruno Farias (31) and his co-worker Jocelino De Silva (44) picked up the drugs from the cubicle after a third co-accused Lucas Farias (27), carried just under 15kg of cocaine, valued at just over €1 million, from Brazil in his suitcase.

Last month De Silva, of Hill Street, Dublin 1, was jailed for six years and Lucas Farias (27) of no fixed abode, was jailed for seven years for their roles.

Bruno Farias, of Stewarts Hall, Ryders Row, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of 12kg valued at €840,000 of the cocaine at the airport on July 11, 2022, he has no previous convictions.

De Silva had admitted possession of the remaining 3kg of drugs on the same occasion valued at €200,000, while Farias admitted importing the entire 15kg of cocaine from Brazil.

Judge Martin Nolan noted the fact that two of the men worked for contractors at the airport allowed them to avoid customs. He said this had made Bruno Farias a vital cog.

He took into account the mitigating circumstances, that he was acting as a courier and that he had no proprietary interest in the drugs.

He noted “speed had been of the essence” in the toilets and he attached no significance to the fact that Bruno Farias had picked up the larger amount of drugs.

Judge Nolan imposed a six year sentence, which he backdated to July when the accused went into custody.

Detective Garda Ronan Doolan told Olan Callanan BL, prosecuting, that custom officers in Dublin Airport were alerted to a particular suitcase that was making its way from Sao Paulo to Dublin via Frankfurt.

The case was identified and Lucas Farias was observed picking it from the carousel in baggage reclaim before going into some nearby toilets.

A few minutes later De Silva and Bruno Farias were seen entering the same bathrooms before Lucas Farias left. The drugs in the suitcase were divided between two bags and De Silva and Bruno Farias grabbed one each.

De Silva and Bruno Farias then made their way through the staff entrances in the airport using their employee swipe cards and boarded an employee bus.

These two men were stopped and arrested and De Silva was found to have three kg of cocaine in a backpack while Bruno Farias had just under 12kg of the drug.

Both Bruno Farias and Da Silva were employees of a contractor at the airport.

Lucas Farias had also been arrested and all three were interviewed.

Fiona Murphy SC, defending Bruno Farias, said her client, who had been working as a catering assistant, accepts his involvement but had been threatened and was in a situation where he felt he had no option. She said his role had been to move the drugs from one place to another.

She said he had come to Ireland from Brazil in an effort to make his life better and she asked the court to be as lenient as possible.

She said De Silva had been his manager in work and the third man was his cousin.