Kerry businessman jailed for 12 years for involvement in €32 million drug cartel operation

Business owner Nathan McDonnell from Kerry has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for his involvement in a multinational crystal meth operation with links to the notorious Mexican Sinaloa Cartel. 

The Special Criminal Court heard that the former garden centre owner had encountered "fierce financial difficulties" with his debts surmounting to €4 million, leading him to become involved in the operation through storing a machine containing drugs on his premises and arranging for its export to Australia. 

The court heard that McDonnell, aged 44, was to be paid €150,000 by an Irish organised crime group for his part in storing the machine. However, there was no evidence that the defendant received any of that money.

Presiding judge, Ms Justice Melanie Greally said on Friday that describing the defendant as a "mere cog in the wheel" was to undervalue his role. During the sentencing the Judge said that McDonnell had carried out several tasks which demanded a high level of trust and responsibility for the criminal group which included paying shipping charges, storing the drugs for four moths and using a family contact to help with export requirements. 

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She also noted that the Kerry man had deceived a legitimate business owner and took responsibility for a forged invoice to facilitate the shipment of the machine which was concealing the drugs. Justice Greally said he was "committed to and invested in" the venture.

The Judge also said that the defendant had enough information about the origin of the machine, its destination and the involvement of some individuals to be able to "join the dots." The court found no evidence that he was under duress when he first became involved. She said: "He demonstrated recklessness and indifference which was tantamount to knowledge."

The non-jury court had been told that custom officers had stopped and inspected a container at Cork Port in February of last year on the back of intelligence. When operatives eventually managed to open up the metal separating machine after two days, they found bags of crystal meth valued at €32.4 million. 

The container had arrived in Cork Port from Central America via Antwerp and the UK, and was intended to be sent to Australia before it was discovered. Gardaí told the court that they had been engaged in a year-long investigation into an organised crime group operating in the Kerry district. 

The court heard that it was a "transnational organised crime group" with one of its "logistical cells" in Kerry, as well as other various cells operating in different countries. Its activities were associated with drug trafficking, money laundering and the intimidation of witnesses.

The crime group allegedly had some connections to another group in Mexico - the Sinaloa Cartel which was described in court as the "biggest drug cartel in the world."

One of the locations searched as part of the operation was Ballyseedy Garden Centre which McDonnell was the chief executive of at the time. The machine was stored in the centre in Tralee for several months. McDonnell admitted to gardaí that he had stored the machine, but he wasn't aware of its contents. 

The former businessman was in court on Friday for the sentencing where he wore a facemask due to having his jaw broken in Portlaoise Prison in an assault for which he had undergone surgery to mend. His barrister said that this assault showed that his prison sentence would be more onerous on him than some other prisoners.

Justice Greally said that both offences were aggravated by the fact that the criminal organisation had an "international reach" and was associated with drug trafficking, money laundering and violence on a significant scale. The headline sentence was set at 21 years imprisonment for the importation of drugs and at 12 years for facilitating an organised crime group. 

McDonnell was eventually sentenced to 12 years for drug importation and to 6 years concurrently for facilitating an organised crime group, which has been backdated to when he first went into custody. The judge said she took into account his guilty plea, cooperation, character, charitable causes he's contributed to and his employment record.