Lorry driver jailed for importing over €1m of cannabis through Dublin Port

Natasha Reid

A 32-year-old lorry driver has been jailed for five years for importing more than €1 million worth of cannabis through Dublin Port.

Andrew Cooley said that he had transported the drugs as a result of a threat from drug dealers to whom he previously owed a debt, although that debt had been repaid a decade earlier.

Cooley, of Ballyoran, Dundalk, Co. Louth, was before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court where he pleaded guilty to importing more than 50 kilos of cannabis at Dublin Port on June 7th 2025.

Today/yesterday (MON), Judge Elma Sheahan imposed a seven-year sentence with the final 24 months suspended on strict conditions.

The court heard that the articulated lorry and refrigerated trailer Cooley was driving was stopped at the port that day and he was asked if he had anything to declare. He said that he did not and that he was carrying Amazon goods.

However, the inspector got a smell of cannabis, and 31 packages of the drug were found under clothing. They had a street value of €1,007,000.

Cooley took ownership of the drugs, but said he did not know the value, telling gardaí he did not have a weighing scale, and estimated it was worth “10 grand”.

He was asked who was going to come looking for it.

“I don’t give a fuck,” he replied. “I don’t have a family. They took that away from me. My kids will be better off. It’s all mine. I’ll smoke it all tomorrow.”

The court was told that he had eight previous convictions, mainly for road traffic matters, and had been disqualified from driving twice.

The court heard that he had previously been known to gardaí as a drug user, and had built up a debt 10 years ago. As a result of this, his parents’ home had been petrol bombed.

His parents settled this debt, and he had been clean of drugs since 2016, and was no longer on the garda radar.

However, his defence team said that he had become involved in this offence when the same party, to whom he had previously owed the debt, found out he was driving a lorry for a living.

He went into custody after this incident, and a garda information form (GIM) was served on his family members. This is an official written document issued by An Garda Síochána to alert an individual of a credible, imminent threat to their life or safety.

Cooley got compassionate bail in February when his mother passed away. His legal team said that her death, and the serving of the GIM form on his family, had been a wake-up call for him.