By Eimear Dodd
A man “marooned” far from home will be sentenced later in relation to €8.5 million of cannabis found in a rented storage unit in Dublin.
Dutch national Onkar Singh (46) pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis for sale or supply and possession of €3,035, being the proceeds of crime on October 11, 2024.
He also pleaded to having a €5 note in his possession, intended for use in connection with a drug trafficking offence on the same date. He has no convictions in this jurisdiction or any other, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.
Detective Garda Joanne Browne of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau told Maddie Grant BL, prosecuting, that gardai received confidential information about the storage of cannabis for onward distribution to other networks.
She said gardai became aware that a group had rented a property in a storage unit in the M50 Business Park in Ballymount and a surveillance operation was put in place.
Det Gda Browne said it is believed that Singh, who has an address in the Netherlands, arrived in Ireland on October 9, 2024.
She added that the investigation team believe that he had been here several times before this date.
Singh and a co-accused were observed in a black Volkswagen van on the evening of October 9, 2024.
Later that day, they were seen taking receipt of a forklift at the storage unit.
The following day, Singh and a co-accused were seen moving between the same storage unit and the Applegreen service station in Ballymount, later travelling to a hotel near Liffey Valley.
On October 11, 2024, Singh and a co-accused arrived at the Applegreen in the same van, then went to the storage unit.
A truck arrived to the storage unit around lunchtime and pallets were unloaded into the storage unit by Singh and a co-accused.
Singh then went to the Applegreen, where he met a third and fourth co-accused.
Det Gda Browne said a €5 note was exchanged between Singh and one of the two co-accused at the service station to verify identification.
This note was later seized when Singh was arrested, the court heard.
Singh and other co-accused returned to the storage unit.
Gardai were instructed to intervene and Singh was arrested, along with two other co-accused.
A search of the van and the storage unit led to the discovery of cardboard boxes containing a total of 426kg of cannabis, with a street value of €8.5 million.
These boxes had been part of 24 pallets, the court heard.
The drugs were mixed in with food items, so the delivery would initially appear to be food, the court heard.
Singh was sitting in the driver’s seat of the van when he was arrested.
Three phones were seized from him, one of which was in his pocket.
Travel documents relating to Singh and €3,035 cash were found in a bag in the van.
He was interviewed five times. While he engaged in the process, Singh denied any knowledge of drugs or involvement with a criminal enterprise.
Singh took responsibility for the phone found in his pocket.
Messages between him and a forklift driver were found on a second phone, which he did not take responsibility for.
CCTV also showed Singh’s movements to and from the rented storage unit and that he took possession of the forklift and the pallets from the truck.
Det Gda Browne agreed with Garret Baker SC, defending, that there is no forensic evidence linking his client to the drugs.
It was further accepted that Singh is not the owner of the drugs or the architect of this operation and was engaged by others to do this work.
Det Gda Browne agreed that Singh is assessed as “just under midlevel” adding that he was also trusted, given his role in this operation.
Mr Baker said his client finds himself in an “appalling situation” through his own “grave ill judgement”.
Singh is married with two children.
He moved to the Netherlands from India 20 years ago and has a work history there, including running his own business.
Counsel said his client is “marooned in an Irish jail cell far away from home” and is unlikely to receive visits from family while in custody.
A letter of apology and several testimonials were handed to the court.
Judge Sinead Ni Chulachain said it appears that Singh is “very pro-social” and highly regarded from the references provided to court.
She said it was “hard to understand” how he became involved.
Mr Baker said he did not get “clear or detailed instructions” about how his client became involved in this offending.
He said Singh acknowledges his involvement was a “mistake” and “something he deeply regrets”.
Counsel asked the court to take into account his client’s early guilty plea and that he will be serving a sentence in a foreign jurisdiction.
He submitted the court could depart from the presumptive mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years.
He submitted that if the court suspended part of the sentence on condition that his client immediately leaves the jurisdiction, Singh would comply with this.
Singh, who has been in custody since his arrest, was assisted during the hearing by a Punjabi interpreter.
Judge Ni Chulachain said this was a “very serious” case and adjourned the case until next month for finalisation.