Three men acting as couriers jailed over €345,000 cash haul

Eimear Dodd

Three men who were acting as couriers were found in possession of over €345,000 of cash, a court has heard.

Anas Altahlh (40), Issa Al Aboud (43), and Mohamad Alsourani (43) were jailed for three years on Monday.

The three men came forward from the District Court on signed pleas to possession of the proceeds of criminal conduct on July 25th last on the Drumcondra Road.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that it is the prosecution's case that the three men were acting in concert to transport the cash.

Garda Shauna Ferncombe of the Garda Crime Response Team told Edward Doocey BL, prosecuting, that gardaí received confidential information that a car carrying three men and a large sum of cash was on its way to Dublin Airport.

They stopped the taxi and searched the three defendants. Two large suitcases were found – one contained €206,000 in cash with a further €135,000 in the other.

Gardai found another €4,900 in a backpack being carried by Al Aboud.

Evidence was heard that the three men had arrived at Dublin Airport on a Ryanair flight three days earlier from Denmark and were due to travel to Istanbul that day. They all had valid Swedish passports.

The three men are all originally from Syria, but left the country due to the civil war. They all have addresses in the same city in Sweden.

Gda Ferncombe said the three men stayed in the same hotel room in Dublin.

Nothing of evidential value was obtained when Altahlh was interviewed by gardaí. Alsourani said he was visiting as a tourist and to look for work. Al Aboud confirmed he booked the flights and hotel and took responsibility for the backpack.

The men did not provide a reason for their visit or why they had a large amount of cash in their possession.

The three men have no previous convictions. They are all married with children. They have limited English and were assisted by interpreters during the sentence hearing.

Gda Ferncombe agreed with counsel defending Altahlh and Alsourani that the hotel and flights were not booked under their client's names.

Defence counsel for the three men asked the court to take into account their clients' backgrounds, limited English, and the difficulty of serving a prison sentence as a foreign national. They also submitted the men were acting as couriers.

Garret Baker SC, defending Altahlh, said his client instructs he was travelling to visit his brother in Istanbul and didn't appreciate the potential penalties for his involvement.

Dominic McGinn SC, defending Alsourani, said his client's actions appear out of character, and he has an offer of work in Sweden, which he will be unable to take up while serving a custodial sentence.

Michael Bowman SC, for Al Aboud, submitted that the court can infer the men were acting as couriers and were reckless. He asked the court to accept that the men's roles were all the same.

Judge Martin Nolan said the court “must infer from the general circumstances of the case that they knew they were handling illicit money”.

He said the court would deal with the men on the basis they were travelling with this money for some type of reward.

The judge imposed a sentence of three years, backdated to July when the men went into custody.