UK drug dealer (62) caught with €300k in prescription tablets

A 62-year-old British man has been sentenced to four years imprisonment at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, with the final 12 months suspended, for possession of nearly 150,000 prescription sleeping tablets valued at approximately €298,000. Michael Hall, from Bedfordshire in England, pleaded guilty to possessing Zopiclone tablets for supply on August 16, 2014, at the Regency Hotel in Drumcondra. He was arrested following a garda surveillance operation in Dublin four years prior. The court heard that Hall and two co-accused were observed transferring boxes of tablets between vehicles in a carpark before leaving in convoy. Judge Melanie Greally imposed a headline sentence of six years but reduced it due to mitigating factors, including Hall's significant health issues. She also imposed a ten-year ban on his return to the Republic of Ireland following release. The judge noted that whilst Zopiclone was not a controlled substance at the time of the offence, it has since become controlled due to its appeal among people with drug addiction.