Man who imported cocaine into Ireland by swallowing 90 pellets of the drug is jailed

By Sonya McLean

A Brazilian national who imported cocaine into Ireland by swallowing 90 pellets of the drug has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Jonathan Vieira (31) came forward to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on signed pleas of guilty from the District Court.

He admitted possession of cocaine for sale or sale, possession of cocaine and importation of cocaine at Dublin Airport on March 16, 2025.

Garda Avril Owens told Shaun Smyth BL, prosecuting, that Vieira was stopped by custom officers after he flew in from Brazil into Dublin because it was felt that he was “acting suspiciously”.

Vieira later admitted to gardaí that he had swallowed pellets of cocaine.

He said he had swallowed 90 pellets in total and had passed a few on the flight.

He passed a total of 71 pellets while in garda custody.

The pellets contained cocaine with an estimated street value of €48,825.

Gda Owens agreed that Vieira told gardaí that he worked as an Uber driver in Brazil and had borrowed money from a debt collector to buy the vehicle for his work.

He was told that he had to pay off the loan in three days or do the trip of transporting the cocaine into Ireland.

It was agreed that he had borrowed the equivalent of €2,000 from this debt collector.

He said he was aware that what he was doing was illegal but felt under pressure.

Gda Owens agreed with Fionnuala O’Sullivan SC, defending, that gardaí accept that Vieira’s account to officers was genuine.

Ms O’Sullivan said her client, who is a married man with two children, was unable to pay back his debt.

The debt was doubled and his family, including his parents, were threatened.

Counsel said Vieira felt he had no option but to import the cocaine to allow him to “wipe the debt”.

She said he continues to be in fear because of the drugs that have now been lost due to his detection in Dublin Airport.

Judge Martin Nolan accepted that this this was a “crime of desperation” and Vieira was “unlikely to re-offend”.

He accepted he was under pressure before he jailed him for two years.

The sentence was backdated to when Vieira first went into custody on the day of his arrest in March this year.