Man jailed after €8.5m worth of cannabis found in storage unit

By Eimear Dodd

A man has been jailed for six years for his role in a “highly organised and sophisticated operation”  which saw €8.5 million of cannabis found in a rented storage unit in Dublin two years ago.

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 guilty 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 previously outlined that gardai received a confidential tip off about the storage of cannabis and a surveillance operation was put in place at a rented storage unit in the M50 Business Park in Ballymount.

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.

Singh’s movements to and from the storage unit were observed the following day.

On October 11, 2024, pallets from a truck 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 as a token of identification. This note was seized when Singh was arrested, the court heard.

Singh and other co-accused returned to the storage unit where they were arrested by gardai.

A search of the van and the storage unit led to the discovery of seven 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, and the drugs were mixed in with food items, 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.

Singh denied any knowledge of drugs or involvement with a criminal enterprise when interviewed by gardai.

He 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.

Imposing sentence, Judge Sinead Ni Chulachain noted that Singh had offered no explanation for his involvement and that the court had to infer he was “engaged for personal profit”.

She said there was no suggestion that Singh was put under pressure or duress and that gardai assessed him at just below mid-level in the organisation. She noted he was trusted with the control of the drugs and money.

The judge said this was a “highly organised and sophisticated operation”. She said while the court assessed Singh’s personal culpability at the mid-level, this had to be balanced against the high value of the drugs and the sophistication of the operation.

The judge said the court could depart from the presumptive mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years for the drugs charge due to Singh’s early pleas, his lack of previous convictions and the difficulty of serving a prison sentence as a foreign national.

She set a headline sentence of 12 years, which she reduced to eight years, with the final two years suspended for five years on the condition that Singh leave the jurisdiction with five days of his release from custody. The sentence was backdated to when Singh went into custody following his arrest.

At an earlier hearing, 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 was 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”.

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 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.