This article is from page 63 of the 2007-04-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 63 JPG
A POLISH national who imported drugs to Ireland for himself and his friends has been jailed for four naLOyeL Ae tce
Polish native Arthur Wypijew- sky (26), who lives in Ennis, pleaded guilty to possession of amphetamine and herbal cannabis and possession of amphetamine for the purpose of sale or supply, at a house on the Limerick Road, Ennis, on November 6 last.
Sergeant John Brennan told Ennis District Court he became aware on November 3 that a package, destined for a house at The Hawthorns, Ennis, had been intercepted by Customs at Dublin Airport.
He obtained a search warrant and subsequently carried out a search of the house.
He found a package there and in- spected it. It contained illegal drugs. These were amphetamines, valued at €3,500, and herbal cannabis, valued 1 eto
The defendant admitted to gardai that the parcel which had arrived from Poland was his.
Defending solicitor William Cahir told the court the package wasn’t ad- dress to his client.
“The address was correct but the name didn’t exist,” he said.
Mr Cahir said his client made ad- missions which “greatly enhanced the case” against him.
“Without it, it would have been a very difficult investigation,” he said, and the garda accepted that.
The solicitor said, “It wouldn’t have been a high brow commercial Operation, an industrial operation as such.”
Sgt Brennan said, “It wouldn’t have been a hugely well organised plan. . . It was significant enough. The drugs were well concealed. Unfortunately for him, they were detected coming through.”
“This man was sourcing illegal drugs in his home country and bring- ing them in. It is my belief they were
for himself and his friends from Po- land who are living here,’ said the yum
Mr Cahir said by pleading guilty, his client saved the State consider- ably trouble and expense.
Wypiewsky has been living in Ireland, on and off, since 2003 and works in a fast food restaurant. He previously spent a year in the army in Poland.
“He wasn’t working last summer and had returned to Poland. He met up with colleagues of his, which unfortunately presented an opportu- nity for him to make some money. Foolishly he followed this through and imported drugs into Ireland,” he said. “He accepts what he did was stupid and reckless,” he said.
He said that the accused’s girl- friend is due to give birth next month and has been hospitalised, due to complications.
Judge Joseph Mangan imposed a four-month jail term and fixed recog- nisances in the event of an appeal.