Caught with €400,000 of cannabis at Dublin Airport

By Eimear Dodd

A man who was caught with just under €400,000 of cannabis at Dublin Airport has been jailed for two years.

Aidas Bauraitis (25), with an address in Lithuania, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to importing cannabis for the purpose of sale or supply on April 15 this year.

He has no previous convictions here or in another jurisdiction, the court heard. Michael Hourigan SC, defending, said his client intends to leave the jurisdiction once he finishes serving his sentence.

Bauraitis was handed a six-year sentence with the final four years suspended on strict conditions.

Garda Avril Owens gave evidence that customs officers saw Bauraitis acting in a suspicious and evasive manner in the customs area.

Bauraitis told gardai the bag was his, but he did not pack it and did not know the combination to open it.

His bag was x-rayed, then searched. A total of 19.9kg of cannabis, valued at €398,000, was found in his bag.

He admitted collecting the bag at a hotel in Bangkok shortly before his flight.

He told gardai he had been due to receive between €2,000 and €3,000, but had not received any payment except for €1,000 to cover travel expenses.

Bauraitis admitted he knew he was bringing in something illegal, but said he didn’t know fully what was in the bag.

He told gardai that he was in significant financial difficulty, his family was in debt and he was supporting his father and grandmother, who have health issues.

Gda Owens agree with Mr Hourigan that his client was co-operative and remorseful.

It was further accepted that Bauraitis has no proprietary interest in the drugs, was at the lowest rung of the ladder and was approached by third parties with a way to make money and have a holiday.

A number of references and a letter of apology were handed into court.

Mr Hourigan told the court that several members of his client’s family had travelled to support him at the sentencing, but it was unlikely visits would be regular while he was in custody.

Counsel submitted his client’s offending was out of character.

He asked the court to take into account his client’s limited English and the difficulty faced by foreign nationals serving a prison sentence.

Mr Hourigan submitted that his client had a “certain vulnerability” due to his financial circumstances which put him in a position to be taken advantage of by third parties.

Judge Pauline Codd said the value of the drugs was the most aggravating feature of the case, along with the fact that Bauraitis was importing them into the country.

She said there had to be deterrence to the importation of drugs, noting its impact on communities and society.

The judge noted that Bauraitis’s motivation was the financial pressure his family was under and that he was to be paid a “relatively small amount of money”.

But she said “it is true to say many people in difficult circumstances don’t resort to criminal conduct” and the defendant had decided to take that step.

Judge Codd also took into account Bauraitis’s relative youth, his early guilty pleas, co-operation and the support he provides to his father and grandmother.

She said there had to be a custodial element to the sentence and noted his intention to return to Lithuania upon his release from custody.