Caught transporting €600,000 worth of cannabis at Dublin Airport 

By Eimear Dodd 
 
A woman caught transporting almost €600,000 worth of cannabis at Dublin Airport told gardai she believed she was carrying gold and watches, a court has heard. 

Amy McQuaid (30) from London came forward on signed guilty pleas to possession of cannabis for sale or supply on September 4, 2024 at Dublin Airport.

She has no previous convictions and has been in custody since this date.

Garda Tom McLoughlin told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday that McQuaid arrived on a flight from Thailand and an anomaly was identified in her luggage when it was X-rayed.

When her bags were searched, 29.8kg of cannabis valued at €597,000 were found. McQuaid accepted the bags were in her control, but said they weren’t hers. She told officials she believed she was carrying gold and watches.

The court heard that McQuaid had travelled to Thailand with her then on-and-off again partner Danny Povey who arrived in Dublin Airport four hours later.

Povey (43) with an address in London was jailed for four and a half years last February after pleading guilty to possession of cannabis for sale or supply at Dublin Airport on the same date.

The court previously heard that just over 29kg of cannabis, with a value of €596,000, was found when Povey’s bags were searched.

McQuaid of no fixed abode in the UK was interviewed by gardai three times. She outlined how she travelled to Thailand with Povey, and said they were contacted by an individual.

She said she was told she was bringing gold and watches. She didn’t believe there were drugs in the suitcase and said she wouldn’t have gone if she realised the suitcase contained drugs.

She said she was being paid £4,000 pounds sterling and a holiday in Thailand. 

Gda McLoughlin agreed with Dean Kelly SC, defending, that McQuaid was co-operative with the investigation, accepted the suitcases were in her control but insisted she believed she was carrying gold and watches.

He accepted Mr Kelly’s suggestion that her explanation was “nonsense” and a stock line persons may be instructed to use.

Mr Kelly told the court that his client made a “catastrophically bad decision”.

He noted that she had persisted with a “stock line”, adding that he is instructed this was “patent nonsense”.

“That is a stock line given to people as a pretty pointless suit of armour to be deployed when confronted by police,” counsel said, describing the line as “transparent and stupid”.

He outlined McQuaid’s personal circumstances, and handed in letters from family members in the UK.

McQuaid has a good work history, but found herself in a vulnerable position at the time of her offending, counsel said.

She is doing well in custody and has enhanced status, but will serve a sentence in a foreign jurisdiction.

Counsel said McQuaid has demonstrated “selflessness” while in custody by offering to assist her fellow prisoners.

Judge Martin Nolan said McQuaid decided to carry drugs for monetary reward, and gave a story that was “somewhat inaccurate” to gardai.

He said the court accepted that McQuaid was at the lowest end of the scale and had no proprietary interest in the “considerable amount” of drugs.

Having considered the mitigation, he imposed a sentence of four years and three months, backdated to when she went into custody on September 4, 2024.