4 years jail for man caught with €420k of cocaine at airport

By Eimear Dodd

A man has been jailed for four years after he was caught in possession of over €420,000 of cocaine at Dublin Airport.

Omar Ahmed (30), with an address in Birmingham, United Kingdom, came forward from the District Court on signed pleas of guilty to possession of drugs for sale or supply.

Ahmed appeared in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for his sentence hearing today via videolink from Wheatfield Prison.

Evidence was heard that Ahmed arrived at Dublin Airport on July 7 this year on a flight from Doha.

An investigating garda told Carol Doherty BL, prosecuting, that 23.1kg of cannabis, valued at €420,080, was found in Ahmed’s luggage.

He was arrested and made certain admissions when interviewed and took responsibility for the suitcase.

The court was told Ahmed understood there was something unlawful in the suitcase, but believed it to be phones and gold.

Ahmed has three minor convictions in the United Kingdom and has been in custody since his arrest.

The garda accepted a suggestion from Marc Thompson SC, defending, that his client had no financial interest in the drugs and was moving them for payment.

It was further accepted that Ahmed was under financial duress at the time.

Mr Thompson submitted to the court that his client’s previous convictions are not relevant to this offence.

He said his client made a bad decision out of desperation, but was otherwise a person of good standing.

Several references and letters confirming Ahmed’s work with voluntary groups were handed to the court.

Judge Martin Nolan said it is accepted that Ahmed was transporting drugs for a financial reward and was on the lower rungs of this drug-dealing enterprise.

He said the court could depart from the mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years due to Ahmed’s signed guilty pleas.

The judge noted there were a lot of drugs involved and said Ahmed must have been aware of the weight as he was carrying the bag.

Having considered the mitigation, he imposed a sentence of four years backdated to when Ahmed went into custody.