Recovering drug addict who travelled to Thailand for drugs jailed for close to five years
Declan Brennan
A recovering drug addict who travelled to Thailand to collect drugs to service a drug debt has been jailed for nearly five years.
Kieran O'Dea, 40, of Bunratty Road, Coolock, Dublin, told gardaí that he nearly cried when customs officers at Dublin Airport opened his bag and he saw it was full of bags of cannabis. The estimated street value of the drugs was €480,000.
O'Dea pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession for sale or supply of cannabis at Dublin Airport on August 18th, 2024. Judge Martin Nolan imposed a custodial sentence of four years and nine months.
Eoin Lawlor SC, defending, told the court that his client had struggled with a cocaine addiction and had come under pressure from people he had built up an €8,000 drug debt to. He said these people had made threats to O'Dea in front of his children and told him there would be consequences if he didn't do what they asked him.
He was given airline tickets to fly to Thailand and back and received some money via Revolut for a hotel and some expenses. He told gardaí he knew the bag contained a small amount of cannabis but was told not to open it.
He said he didn't believe the bag was just full of drugs and was told it also contained clothing. The bag was found to have 24 kg of cannabis, Garda Jamie O'Connor testified.
The garda agreed with counsel that a search of his client's home showed no indications of a wealthy lifestyle.
O'Dea has one previous conviction for drug dealing and one for possession of drugs. Mr Lawlor told the court that he has struggled with drug addiction since 2017 and had made inroads into rehabilitation.
He had successfully gotten off drugs for a while, and in 2012 he became involved with a local sports club as a way of giving back to the community, the court heard.
In 2024, he began abusing cocaine again and built up the debt that led to this offence.
Judge Nolan said that O'Dea had shown some fortitude in trying to deal with his drug habit. But he said the amount of drugs involved in this offence was considerable.
