Brothers jailed after they were caught in possession of cannabis

By Brion Hoban

Two brothers who were caught in possession of over €85,000 of cannabis have been jailed.

Inside the home of Jurijs Savcuks (40) and Vladimirs Savcuks (43), gardaí found cannabis plants being grown, as well as cannabis being stored in numerous locations including inside tubs of pickled gherkins and ice-cream.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that gardaí searched the Dublin home after gardaí found approximately €19,000 worth of cannabis underneath some “strong smelling homemade sausages” in a car Jurijs Savcuks was travelling in.

The brothers of Chapelton, Hollystown, Dublin both pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis for sale or supply at their address on January 31, 2020.

Vladimirs Savcuks has six previous convictions for road traffic offences.

Jurijs Savcuks has two previous convictions, including a conviction for possession of cannabis for sale or supply in relation to the drugs found in Cork in 2020 for which he received a sentence of six years imprisonment with the final year suspended.

Passing sentence yesterday, Judge Melanie Greally said there was clear evidence that drugs were being “grown, prepared and supplied” from this particular premises.

The judge said a large amount of cash was found in the home, which is likely to represent the proceeds of the cannabis. She said neither brother were addicts and this was “clearly an enterprise driven purely by financial gain”.

Judge Greally sentenced Jurijs Savcuks to eight years imprisonment, but suspended the final two years of the sentence on strict conditions. She said the suspension takes into account the length of time he has spent in custody in relation to the Cork offence.

She sentenced Vladimirs Savcuks to eight years imprisonment but suspended the final 12 months of the sentence on strict conditions.

Garda James Greville told Derek Cooney BL, prosecuting, that in January 2020, Jurijs Savcuks was in a car with another man near Mitchelstown in Cork that was stopped by gardaí.

Gda Greville said that during a subsequent search, gardaí found approximately €19,000 of cannabis underneath some “strong smelling homemade sausages” in the car boot.

Jurijs Savcuks was arrested and gave his address as being in Dublin.

Gardaí obtained a search warrant for the address in Hollystown which he shared with his brother Vladimirs. Gardaí breached the door after seeing items being discarded from a window in the house and discovered that Vladimirs Savcuks was the only person in the house.

During the search of the house, gardaí found cannabis in numerous locations, including inside tubs of pickled gherkins and ice-cream.

They also found cannabis plants being grown inside a black tent and a bundle of cash worth around €8,000.

The total value of all of the cannabis found, including the cannabis plants and cannabis that had been bagged, was €85,330.

Gda Greville agreed with Dean Kelly SC, defending Jurijs Savcuks, that his client co-operated with gardaí from the beginning and immediately gave the correct address in Dublin.

The garda agreed with counsel that his client has been in Ireland for just short of two decades, having come from Latvia, but has become an Irish citizen.

He agreed his client has been for most of his life a hard working person who made “spectacularly bad decisions”.

Mr Kelly said his client borrowed money, got into debt and “matters spiralled from there”.

He said this was not a drug debt and his client was not a drug user.

Counsel said his client was otherwise a person of excellent character and has been a model prisoner.

He asked the court to see its way not to extending his stay in prison.

Gda Greville agreed with Seamus Clarke SC, defending Valdimirs Savcuks, that his client told gardaí he was using some small number of plants as an ointment remedy for his skin and that the small number of plants found in his room would equate to that.

The garda agreed with counsel that his client has been employed for the last 20 years since he came to Ireland.

He agreed his client’s convictions were “of some antiquity”.

Mr Clarke said his client was not involved with the drugs that were seized by gardaí in Cork.

He asked the court to impose a sentence that is less than what had been imposed in Cork Circuit Court.