Greek pizza delivery man 'shocked' to discover he had brought €276k of cannabis into country

A man who thought he was bringing tax documents into the country was shocked when he was told his luggage contained over €276,000 in cannabis, a court has heard.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Georgious Nikolas (46) believed he was carrying documents to be used by a business to obtain a tax benefit and was shocked, angry and upset when he was told the luggage contained over 13.8kg of cannabis, valued at around €276,000.

The investigating garda told Oisin Clarke BL, prosecuting, that customs officials at Dublin Airport stopped Nikolas on October 19 last as he was acting suspiciously.

They searched his luggage and found the drugs. Nikolas made admissions to the customs officials and later to gardai during interview.

Nikolas with an unknown address in Greece pleaded guilty to the importation of cannabis. He has no previous convictions here or in any other jurisdiction.

He told gardai he wanted to earn extra money to pay for his son's education and was approached by someone he knew and offered €500.

The garda agreed with Michael Bowman SC, defending, that Nikolas fully co-operated and provided material assistance to the investigation.

Nikolas had worked as a chiropractor, but lost his job. He was working as a pizza delivery driver in Athens when an acquaintance offered to help him earn extra money by bringing tax documents to Ireland for a business, which would then gain a tax benefit.

The garda said the €500 offered to Nikolas for his role was unusually low. She further accepted Mr Bowman's suggestion that Nikolas knew what he was doing wasn't “kosher”, but didn't know he was carrying drugs.

It was further accepted that Nikolas has a long work history and no involvement in criminality. Nikolas is a devoted father who was living “hand to mouth” while working as a pizza delivery driver with everything else going towards his son's education.

He submitted to the court while his client was “naive and reckless”, he was “genuinely shocked” by the contents of the bag. Mr Bowman also noted that the investigating garda fully accepted his client's account.

Nikolas is a Greek national, has no connection to this jurisdiction, and has received no visits since he entered custody. Mr Bowman said his client has not tried to “frustrate” the criminal process and did everything possible to co-operate.

A number of references were handed to the court along with a governor's report. Nikolas is an enhanced prisoner working and engaged in education while in custody.

Judge Dara Hayes noted that Nikolas thought he was carrying documents for a “not entirely appropriate tax scheme” and was upset when he was told it was actually drugs.

The judge said that gardai accepted that Nikolas didn't know he was carrying drugs, and in the court's experience this is “not a concession lightly or easily made by a prosecuting garda”.

He added that Nikolas's account was also accepted as plausible by gardai.

Judge Hayes said it was accepted by the prosecuting garda that €500 was an “unusually low reward” for bringing in a “significant” quantity of drugs and that Nikolas's actions were naive and reckless.

The judge said the quantity of drugs is an aggravating factor, noting the impact of drugs on society and communities across the country.

He said the mitigating factors include Nikolas's personal circumstances, his early guilty plea, and level of co-operation with gardai.

Judge Hayes imposed a sentence of two and a half years backdated to October 19 last, when Nikolas entered custody.

The judge said he would suspend the final 18 months of the sentence in light of Nikolas's personal circumstances, lack of previous convictions and the difficulty a foreign national can face in custody.