Chef who had “pivotal” role in the delivery of cannabis valued at almost €250,000 jailed for three years

By Sonya McLean

A chef who had a “pivotal” role in the delivery of cannabis valued at almost €250,000 concealed in food boxes has been jailed for three years.

Andres Pozo (25) of Rehoboth Place, Dublin 8, came forward on signed pleas of guilty from the District Court.

He pleaded guilty to having cannabis and cannabis resin for sale or supply at Usher Street, Dublin 8 on November 7, 2025.

He also admitted to handling the proceeds of crime, €6,000 in the same place and on the same date.

Passing sentence yesterday, Judge Martina Baxter said the chaos and corrosive destruction caused by the sale and supply of drugs on individuals, their families and wider society was an aggravating factor in this case.

She observed there had been planning and premeditation in the offending, as well as subterfuge in the use of an innocent address and a false name.

She said Pozo’s role in the receipt and onward transmission of the drugs was “pivotal.”

She noted in mitigation that he entered an early guilty plea and cooperated with the investigation in outlining his own role.

She considered his positive engagement in custody, lack of previous convictions and that his addiction issues had been addressed.

She said she was satisfied the court could depart from the presumptive mandatory minimum sentence in the circumstances of this case and set a headline sentence of seven and a half years.

Taking into account mitigation, she imposed a sentence of four and a half years.

She suspended the final 18 months on strict conditions, including that he leave the country on his release.

Garda Michael Duffy told Aideen Collard BL, prosecuting, that a joint operation was established between the gardaí and Revenue, after customs officers suspected a consignment of drugs was hidden in a pallet of food items.

A controlled delivery was carried out and a warrant was secured for an apartment that the pallet was to be delivered to.

When the garda posing as a delivery man, arrived at the apartment he called the number on the docket and spoke to Pozo who agreed to meet him.

Pozo signed the delivery docket, took the pallet and was loading it into a rental van when gardaí moved in and arrested him.

Gda Duffy said it was a timber pallet carrying large cardboard boxes of food.

The cannabis was concealed in the middle of the items and was shrink-wrapped.

The drugs were later analysed and confirmed to be 11.9kg of cannabis with an estimated street value of €239,208 and 1.2kg of cannabis resin with an estimated street value of €7,704.

There was also a book in Pozo’s van which had €6,000 in cash, in €50 notes, hidden between the pages.

Pozo was interviewed four times. A follow up search of his own home led to the discovery of a small quantity of cannabis resin.

There was also vacuum pack bags and a machine used to seal those bags.

Pozo came to Ireland four years earlier and had been working as a chef.

He told gardaí he was due to get €1,000 and his role was to load the van with the consignment and wait until he got a call.

He claimed he thought it would be about a kilogramme of “weed”.

Pozo told gardaí he was a heavy cannabis user himself and would sell about €500 worth of cannabis a month to friends.

He said he had saved the cash and was planning to have it shipped back to Spain.

He told gardaí he was offered the job because he had a driving license and he claimed he had a €20,000 drug debt.

It was accepted that Pozo’s role was to load the van which was then going to be driven to Belfast.

Gda Duffy agreed with Keith Spencer BL, defending, that Pozo provided the pin code for his phone following his arrest.

He acknowledged that Pozo told gardaí that he began to smoke cannabis in larger amounts than would be considered “recreational”.

Mr Spencer said his client was a skilled chef who worked consistently.

His family had rallied around and offered to pay his bail but Pozo refused to accept it and stayed on remand in prison.

“He went down a bad path, a path that needed to be corrected. Unfortunately for him he was caught on the day. It was a once off and act of despair because he had built up such a drug debt,” Mr Spencer said.

Mr Spencer said his client is working in the prison kitchen since his remand in prison.

He handed in a large number of testimonials into the court with some describing Pozo as a hard-working moral person who is always cheerful and is a help to others.