Man jailed for collecing €680,000 of cannabis hidden in almond shipment

By Jessica Magee

A Dublin man who went to collect over €680,000 of cannabis concealed in a consignment of almonds has been jailed for six years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

 Stephen Leech (40) pleaded guilty to possessing the cannabis for sale or supply at Kincade, Shielmartin Road in Sutton on May 5, 2023.

 He also admitted possessing €3,500 in cash as the proceeds of crime on the same occasion.

 The court heard that Leech and a co-accused, who is still before the courts, were caught as they attempted to flee the premises following a controlled delivery of the consignment by customs officers and members of the Garda National Organised Crime Bureau.

 Gardaí also seized over €4,000 worth of heroin along with small quantities of cocaine and 30 Alprazolam tablets, used to treat anxiety disorders.

 Passing sentence on Wednseday Judge Martin Nolan said Leech was the “holder, receiver and transporter” of the drugs, but that his culpability was low as he had been imposed upon by third parties.

 Judge Nolan said those higher up in the chain had insulated themselves as was always the case, and that Leech was “part of the insulation”.

 The judge said that although the value of drugs was high, Leech had substantial mitigation including a very early plea, full cooperation, a long work history, a good family background and impressive references.

The court heard that Leech has now dealt with his own drug addiction and has volunteered for the Simon Community and taken part in soup runs.

 Garda Kerry Harmon told Emmet Nolan BL, prosecuting, that customs officers had examined a consignment of pallets of almond nuts that arrived from Bilbao, Spain on May 4 last.

The pallets had been delivered to a premises in Kingswood Business Park in Dublin 22, but were moved to the Customs House where a sniffer dog confirmed the presence of cannabis.

 Customs officers and gardaí then carried out a controlled delivery of the consignment to Kincade on Shielmartin Road in Sutton, where Leech tried to flee on foot but was apprehended at the rear of the property.

 He had 50 deals of heroin on his person, with a street value of €2,142.

 The consignment was found to contain over 31kg of cannabis, valued at €682,400.

 During a follow-up search of a nearby house, gardaí found 18 grammes of heroin valued at €2,520, together with €60 worth of Alprazolam tablets, €141 of cocaine and cannabis worth €60.

The total value of all drugs seized was €687,323, the court heard.

 Leech took responsibility for the drugs and for €3,500 in cash that was also seized.

 The court heard that Leech has several previous convictions, including two for drugs offences and others for public order and traffic charges, all of which were dealt with at District Court level.

Garda Harmon agreed with Michael Bowman SC, defending, that Leech came from a very decent, hardworking and respectable family, but had started using drugs at the age of 16.

His drug use escalated from cannabis to ecstasy to intravenous use of heroin by the age of 18.

Mr Bowman said Leech and the co-accused man had been in town getting heroin for themselves on the day when they got a call from an associate asking him to drop something quickly.

Leech had built up a drug debt of about €7,000 and was told he would have debt forgiveness of €1,000 if he did the job, while his co-accused would get his debt reduced by €2,000.

Leech told gardaí that the €3,500 in cash was his own money which he had put aside to pay off his debt.

A booklet of testimonials was handed in on Leech’s behalf, including a letter from his pregnant girlfriend.

Mr Bowman said his client has a history of substance abuse but is now clean of drugs and currently employed.

“He’s not without promise, ability and the capacity to turn his life around,” said Mr Bowman.

Leech was sentenced to six years in prison.