Phibsboro man jailed for “drug dealing enterprise”

By David O’Sullivan

A man caught with almost €600,000 worth of drugs in his apartment, which he was cutting up and distributing as part of a “drug dealing enterprise,” has been jailed for seven and a half years.

James Maguire (59) of Cabra Park, Phibsboro, Dublin 8, appeared before Judge Martin Nolan in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to possessing €597,188 worth of heroin, cocaine and tablets for sale or supply on December 18, 2022.

An investigating garda told the court that gardai obtained a search warrant for Maguire’s apartment, believing there was a large amount of drugs at the residence.

Gardaí arrived to Maguire’s flat in the Old Distillery, Smithfield, Dublin 7 on the date and informed him of the search warrant. He sat down on a couch facing a coffee table with drugs in plain sight.

There were bags of cocaine and heroin on the table as well as tablets, weighing scales and €5,995 in cash.

A search of the apartment revealed a drug press, bottles of ammonia and a further €2,050 in cash hidden in the washing machine. More heroin and cocaine was found in other parts of the flat, along with a machine used to compress drugs.

Gardaí also found mixing agents including caffeine, paracetamol and benzocaine.

During the search, a car key belonging to a BMW was found. This car was located in the apartment’s parking garage. Gardai searched the car and found over €350,000 worth of cocaine and heroin inside.

In total, gardai found €364,776 worth of drugs in the BMW and €232,412 in the apartment. The total value of the drugs seized was €597,188.

Maguire was arrested that day before being interviewed on a number of occasions.

The court heard the drugs were in the apartment to be cut up and redistributed, and that Maguire was one of a number of people who would have been involved in the operation.

Padraig Dwyer SC, defending, said his client “had an extremely traumatic life and childhood” and had been homeless for years before he managed to secure the apartment where the drugs were seized.

Mr Dwyer said his client had become involved with drugs at a “fairly early age” and had been a “full blown crack addict” which led to him accumulating a large drug debt.

He said his client was extremely vulnerable because of this, and that this ultimately had led to him cooperating in the sale and supply of drugs from the address.

Mr Dwyer said his client is currently drug-free and “recognizes that engaging in drug use and drug supply is not acceptable behavior.”

“He’s lost a home that he had waited for for 14 years,” Mr Dwyer said, before telling the court that Maguire was “ashamed” of the incident.

Maguire has 64 previous convictions, including three for possession of drugs.

In sentencing, Judge Nolan said Maguire “had problems and that rendered him vulnerable to people who wanted to take advantage of him” but that “he was a mature man that made his decision to involve himself in this pretty serious drug dealing enterprise.”

Mitigating factors included that Maguire pleaded guilty and that he generally cooperated with the gardai.

Judge Nolan sentenced Maguire to seven and a half years imprisonment, which was backdated to when Maguire entered custody on December 18, 2022.