Man involved in major cannabis-growing operation sentenced

A POLISH man who was involved in a major cannabis cultivation operation in Mayo has received a four year prison sentence.
Marek Asijewski appeared before last week’s sitting of Castlebar Circuit Court, where he was sentenced for possession and cultivation of 297 cannabis plants, worth a potential €237,600.
Garda Nicola Dolan explained the 56-year-old Polish national was leasing a house in Ballinchalla, The Neale, when gardaí received confidential information on March 26, 2017 that cannabis was being grown in the house.
The house was place under Garda surveillance before it was raided on April 5, 2017. Garda Dolan described what they found as a ‘commercial enterprise’ and the ‘most sophisticated discovery in the Mayo region’.
In one downstairs bedroom, they discovered 46 mature plants which were ready for harvesting. In an upstairs bedroom, 65 plants nearly ready for harvesting were found, while  54 established but immature plants were discovered in another upstairs bedroom. Gardaí also discovered 137 plants which were in the early stages of growth in the attic.
The court heard that a hydroponic system was in place, which meant the plants did not need any compost and the electricity supply was bypassed.
Mr Denis Dockery, counsel for the defendant, described his client as a ‘foot soldier’ who was forced to participate in the criminal operation. Mr Asijewski arrived from Poland in November 2015 after a friend put him in touch with a Polish contact in Ireland and arranged casual work for him.

No English
Mr Asijewski has no English and did not know anyone in Ireland. Mr Dockery said his contact gave him money to lease the house in The Neale in his own name. He worked at different jobs and said the house was normal until January 2017, when it was converted into a ‘grow house’. Mr Asijewski said he initially refused to co-operate but was beaten by two men. As a resulted he felt he was ‘trapped’ and had to cooperate.
Garda Dolan said Mr Asijewski was not known to Gardaí before this incident and he lived a reclusive lifestyle when the house was under surveillance. When gardaí arrived at the house Mr Asijewski provided two identification cards with a false surname. It was only when Interpol were contacted they discovered his real surname.
He was interviewed six times following his arrest, and he explained that he watered the plants but had no part in their harvesting or sale of the drugs. He told gardaí he was to receive €1,000 when the plants were harvested. He has been in custody since his arrest.
Mr Dockery said his client was married with two adult children but had fallen on hard times before coming to Ireland to work. He added that his client felt he was set up and that there was no way out.
Judge Rory McCabe said Mr Asijewski was part of a significant drug enterprise and placed the offence at the medium end of the scale of gravity. He accepted Mr Asijewski’s early plea of guilty and his previous good character and sentenced him to four years’ imprisonment for possession of the cannabis and three years for cultivation.
The sentences are to run concurrently, with the final 12 months of each suspended for a period of five years. The sentence was backdated to when Mr Asijewski first went into prison. A destruction order was issued for the drugs.