Man jailed after gardaí catch him with bin bag stuffed with €100k of cannabis

A man who was caught with just over €150,000 worth of cannabis after he handed over drugs to the target of a garda surveillance operation has been jailed for two and half years. 

David Weir (49) of Eastham Park, Bettystown, Co. Meath pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of cannabis for sale or supply both in his home and Raheny, Dublin on February 22, 2021. 

His seven previous convictions include a drug offence and road traffic offences. He also admitted possession of an air rifle. 

The target of the operation, taxi driver Mark Byrne (49), was sentenced to three years in December 2022. 

He had pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possessing the cannabis for sale or supply at his home on Watermill Drive, Raheny, Dublin 5 on February 22, 2021. Detective Garda David Moran told Simon Matthews BL, prosecuting, that Byrne was the target of an intelligence-led garda operation and his home in Raheny was under surveillance. 

Weir was spotted driving to Byrne’s home and handing him over a large black bag. Weir drove off but was arrested a short distance away. 

Gardaí raided Byrne’s home and discovered five kilogrammes of cannabis, worth €100,000 in the black bin bag. 

Weir was brought in for questioning but had to be brought to hospital as he was struggling to breathe. 

A warrant was later secured to search his own home in Bettystown during which a further quantity of cannabis, 2.7kg worth an estimated €55,526, was discovered. 

Det Gda Moran said mixing agent, an air rifle, weighing scales and a vacuum packaging machine were also seized during the search. Det Gda Moran agreed with Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, defending, that her client was not the subject of the garda intelligence rather it was his co-accused Mark Byrne. 

He accepted that Weir had a long-standing cannabis addiction and his role could be described as “a gillie or lackey” in that it was his job to distribute the drugs. 

Weir told gardaí in interview that he was not going to blame others and he was going to take responsibility for the drugs. 

He didn’t accept a suggestion from gardaí that he was a major drug dealer, “I don’t sell them, I just courier them”. 

He said the cannabis was in his home because “I let the drugs be put there”. 

Judge Pauline Codd accepted that Weir was “not the original target of the garda operation” but said he was “happy to act as a foot solider”. 

“Drugs seem to be flooding the country at the moment and there has to be a deterrence for it (drug dealing),” Judge Codd said. 

The judge said without people like Weir the drug trade could not operate before she added that drugs is having a massive impact on society. 

Judge Codd set a headline sentence of seven years. 

She noted that Weir had decided in his middle age to courier drugs noting that “he made that decision himself”. 

Judge Codd imposed a five-year prison term before she suspended the final two and half years on the condition that he keep the peace and be of good behaviour for those two and half years. 

The judge acknowledged that Weir comes from a supportive and pro-social family. 

Ms Lawlor handed in a medical report to the court which outlined the fact that Weir has advanced lung disease, which she said would have been very apparent to gardaí during his detention. 

She said his life has been debilitated by the condition and the next step available to him is a transplant. He also has a history of mental health issues.

Ms Lawlor said she was not suggesting that Weir “get a ‘get out of jail free card’” because of his condition but submitted that it was something the court could take into consideration. 

Counsel handed in a number of letters on behalf of her client, including one from his brother whom she said is in “a central position of responsibility in his local community”.