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A man who was caught transporting 1.2 million euros of cocaine while driving with his two-year-old daughter in the front seat has been jailed for four years.
Alan Flynn, 29, of Forrest Fields Road, River Valley, Swords, pleaded guilty in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of cocaine worth more than € 13,000 for sale or supply on O’Casey Road, Parkwest, Ballyfermot, Sept. 29, 2019.
Garda Detective John Paul Flanagan told prosecution attorney Derek Cooney that Gardaí received confidential information that a silver VW Golf would be used to transport a number of drugs in the Parkwest area.
Det Gda Flanagan said that on the date in question, an unmarked patrol car spotted the silver Golf on O’Casey Road and motioned for it to stop.
Flynn was driving the car while his two-year-old daughter was in the front passenger seat.
In the back of the car, Gardaí discovered a total of 18 packages of cocaine strewn across the footwell of the car and in an open cardboard box. The total value of the cocaine was € 1,263,920.
In an interview with gardaí, Flynn said he had a debt for cannabis and while looking for work he met a man in a pub who gave him a mobile phone.
He later received a call on that phone telling him where to pick up the cocaine and transport it to a gym in Parkwest.
During a search at his home, Gardaí discovered a stun gun and pepper spray, which Flynn told Gardaí he had in his possession for his own protection.
Flynn has seven prior convictions for moving violations.
Det Gda Flanagan agreed with Ciaran O’Loughlin SC, arguing that there was no suggestion that his client was a member of any type of gang.
He accepted that Flynn was unlikely to do something like this in the future.
O’Loughlin said her client didn’t bother to hide the drugs and that they were sitting outside. He said that his client’s life has been destroyed by this, but that he is aware that it is his fault.
Judge Pauline Codd said she considered the fact that Flynn had a young child in the car with him to be an aggravating factor in the case.
She said he appeared to have been “a mere messenger” and was the lowest cog in the organization that committed the crime for a one-time payment.
Judge Codd sentenced Flynn to seven years in prison, but suspended the last three years of the sentence under strict conditions.
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