Knock customs found €6,000 of cannabis hidden in man’s runners

Knock customs found €6,000 of cannabis hidden in man’s runners


A DUBLIN man who tried to smuggle over €6,000 worth of cannabis through Knock Airport was found guilty of sale and supply of the drug. The drug was found hidden in the soles of his runners.
Gary Mulvany of 49 Rafters Road, Drimnagh, Dublin 8 was detected with the drugs after he was stopped by customs officers at Ireland West Airport Knock after getting off a flight from Lanzarote on June 7, 2012.
After initially denying he was carrying any illegal drugs, customs officers found 13 bags of herbal cannabis in vacuum packed bags hidden in the insole of his runners. The total weight of the drugs was 316.359g and they had a street value of approximately €6,327.18, or €20 per gramme.
Mr Mulvany pleaded guilty to the possession of the cannabis but denied the charge of possession for sale and supply claiming the drugs were for his own personal use for medical purposes. A former heroin addict who has HIV, Mr Mulvany told gardaí when arrested that he would smoke 10-15g of cannabis a day.
Last week’s sitting of Castlebar Circuit Court heard that Mr Mulvany had lived in Lanzarote for four years previous to the offence and he bought the drugs for €1,200 before arriving in Knock. He said he was going to Dublin to visit his mother.
When asked by Detective Sergeant Jim Caden after he was arrested why he flew into Knock and not Dublin, he admitted he did so because he thought the security would be lax.
Throughout the interview with gardaí he denied he brought the drugs into the country to sell and maintained they were for his own personal use. He also denied bringing the drugs for his friends or family but admitted he would ‘smoke a joint or two with them’.
When asked by Det Sgt Caden why they were put into separate bags, he said it was so they could fit in his shoes.
Det Sgt Caden told Mr Patrick Reynolds, BL for the State that he did not believe the drugs were for Mr Mulvany’s personal use because from his own experience in drug squads, users will smoke on average 2.5g of cannabis a week.
Under questioning from Mr Diarmuid Connolly, BL for Mr Mulvaney, Det Sgt Caden added that all the bags were of equal weight and amount and to him this was for the purpose of sale and supply.
Mr Connolly said his client was on medication for his illness that left him with side effects and he used the cannabis to deal with those side effects. He continued that he needed a larger quantity of cannabis a day than the ‘normal user’, but Det Sgt Caden said if that was the case he would be spending €70,000 a year on cannabis.
However, Det Sgt Caden did acknowledge that Mr Mulvany said during his interview that he did not want to deal with street-level dealers because of the temptation of other drugs.
Mr Connolly explained his client had no previous convictions for drugs and in his submissions to the jury he claimed he brought the drugs in because they were cheaper and wanted to avoid dealing with drug dealers.
He described the charge as ‘nonsense’ and said the evidence against him did not stack up and that a conviction would be unsafe.
However, after over two hours of consideration, the jury of ten men and two women found Mr Mulvany guilty by a majority of eleven to one. Judge Keenan Johnson adjourned sentencing until May 17 for the preparation of a probation report.