Courts / Dublin / Report

Garda dressed up as postman to deliver ecstasy pills to suspected dealer

Summary

In a sting operation, a Garda officer disguised as a postman used an An Post van to deliver a parcel containing 36,000 ecstasy tablets to Philip Noonan, who signed for it and was immediately arrested. Customs had flagged the package as suspicious after it arrived from Germany to Portlaoise Mail Centre in June 2015. The parcel, addressed to Noonan, was found to contain MDMA tablets worth €288,000. Noonan, aged 49, had previously been convicted of 20 offences, including a robbery in 1992, and was charged with possessing drugs for sale or supply. He pleaded guilty at his trial in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court and was sentenced to two and a half years' imprisonment. The judge noted he was not the owner of the drugs but had knowingly received the package for onward delivery. The sentence reflected the seriousness of the drug‑dealing activity, despite mitigating circumstances.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Garda dressed up as postman to deliver ecstasy pills to suspected dealer. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

• June 30, 2015 Incident
• 2018-07-05 Publication

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Drugs Stage Sentence Theft

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Read the original CNI report