Courts / Dublin / Report

Grow house operators given 2.5 years

Summary

Three Portuguese men – Miguel Lopez Lima (28), Perdor Barbosa (34) and Hugo De Silva (23) – were sentenced to two‑and‑a‑half years in prison after pleading guilty to cultivating cannabis at a sophisticated grow house on Frederick Lane North, Dublin 1, on 2 March. Gardaí obtained a search warrant and found 1,439 cannabis plants, the largest 63 inches tall. Barbosa had nine prior convictions in Portugal, three for drugs offences; Lopez Lima and De Silva each had three prior convictions, including one drug offence each. Defence counsel argued that De Silva was not a profit taker and that all three had been coerced into the operation, with De Silva claiming he was driven to the grow house daily from a farm near Wellington Bridge. Judge Martin Nolan accepted the coercion argument and imposed the sentence on all three defendants.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Grow house operators given 2.5 years. Charges or matters: cultivating cannabis at Frederick Lane North, Dublin 1, on March 2, last. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

• March 2 Hearing Or Sentence
• 2019-12-06 Publication

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Drugs Stage Sentence

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Read the original CNI report