Man charged with possession of €18k worth of drugs was arrested by garda disguised as courier

Trim Circuit Court was told a 38-year-old man found in possession of over a kilogram of cannabis is fortunate to have his family’s support to help him deal with his drug addiction.

This was during the sentencing of Micheal Myles (38), from St Mary’s Cottages, Staleen, who was in court on 28th January charged with possession of drugs for sale and supply.

Garda Jason McDonagh told the court that on 24th July 2024 a search warrant was executed at Mr Myles address after revenue officers in Irish customs intercepted over 1kg of cannabis at Dublin Airport.

On the day Garda Rionnach O’Sullivan arrived at the accused's home with the package disguised as a courier. Another person living at the house opened the door and called out to Mr Myles saying his package is here. After the accused signed the delivery slip the he was informed they were Gardaí and they executed the warrant. In their search Gardaí found €18,080 worth of cannabis and phones inside the two packages delivered.

Mr Myles was arrested and detained at Drogheda Garda station where he made no admissions during his first interview, saying he thought it was an innocent delivery from Amazon.

When messages examined by Gardaí were put to him he made full admissions to arranging the import of cannabis from the USA and pleaded guilty to the charges.

The court heard it was later found another person planned the delivery and the accused was instructed take the package because of a €2,500 drug debt.

Mr Myles has 25 previous convictions, 24 of which for road traffic offences and one for theft. The accused has not come to garda attention since this incident.

The court heard Mr Myles has been coping with several recent family bereavements. These include his father who passed away father nine years ago, his sister who passed four years ago, and his brother has recently been diagnosed with terminal kidney failure. He started taking medication in 2017 to help cope with the loss of his father but later developed an addiction to cannabis.

Defending barrister James O’Brien told the court his family has taken matters into their own hands and “they have tried their best to keep Mr Myles on the straight and narrow”. He is being kept under their supervision and the accused is no longer in contact with people outside the family since his arrest after recognising they were getting him on drugs.

Judge John Martin said the accused was used a as mule for those higher up in the drugs trade and helped ship drugs in to “cause havoc” in the Drogheda and Donore areas.

Judge Martin adjourned the case back to 28th April for finalisation and for a probation report. The Judge said he is to consider giving Mr Myles community service but that he is “not waving a white flag”. The accused requires a detailed letter from his practitioner, drug analysis once every two weeks, and to engage with probation services.