Courts / Dublin / Report
Smuggler stashed cocaine pellets in wine box as he 'couldn't face' swallowing them
Summary
Alfa So, 31, a Portuguese national, was arrested at Dublin Airport on 3 July 2019 after customs officers discovered over €51,000 worth of cocaine in a wine box he carried. The drugs, 70% pure, were packed into 73 pellets with the intention of ingestion, but So admitted he could not swallow them and instead concealed them in the wine box. He pleaded guilty to one count of importing drugs, claiming he bought them from a friend in Africa and intended to sell them to buy a farm in Portugal. So had no prior convictions and expressed remorse. The Dublin Circuit Criminal Court sentenced him to two years' imprisonment, a term backdated to his arrest, citing his foreign status and the difficulty of his custody conditions. The sentence was imposed after he pleaded guilty early and was found to be remorseful.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Smuggler stashed cocaine pellets in wine box as he 'couldn't face' swallowing them. Charges or matters: one count of importing drugs into the country on July 3, 2019. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- July 3 Incident
- July 3, 2019 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2020-05-28 Publication
Why: A drugs smuggler who stashed 73 pellets of cocaine in a wine box because he couldn't face ingesting them has been jailed for two years. CNI source report
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: one count of importing drugs into the country on July 3, 2019 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Handing down a sentence of two years, Judge Martin Nolan said it would have been longer but for the fact So is a foreign national whose time in custody will be "very difficult". He backdated the sentence to when So was taken into custody last year.
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