Courts / Dublin / Report
Drug mules caught travelling from Vegas with €640k in cannabis
Summary
Two British men, Dylan Shears, aged 20, and Ainsley Stevenson, aged 26, were jailed after being stopped at Dublin Airport with €690,000 worth of cannabis destined for the UK market. They pleaded guilty to smuggling over 30 kg of the drug into Terminal 2 on 17 October. Stevenson, from Halifax, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison, while Shears, from Bradford, received a three‑year sentence. Judge Martin Nolan noted that if Stevenson had been an Irish national he would have received a six‑and‑a‑half‑year sentence, and that Shears' younger age warranted a lesser term. The men were caught by customs officers after arriving from Las Vegas, where they had collected the cannabis and planned to transport it via Dublin to Manchester on behalf of an unnamed individual. Neither had prior convictions. Both men cooperated with Gardaí and made admissions.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Drug mules caught travelling from Vegas with €640k in cannabis. Charges or matters: smuggling over 30kg of the drug into Terminal 2 last October 17. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- October 17 Incident
- 2024-05-16 Publication
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Charges: smuggling over 30kg of the drug into Terminal 2 last October 17 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Stevenson, of Waverly Road in Halifax, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison while Shears, of Kent Road in Bradford, was handed a three-year sentence, at a sitting of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court today. Judge Nolan said it is always more difficult for people to serve their sentences in a foreign jurisdiction, but that Stevenson had been a mature enough man who had made a serious misjudgement to involve himself in transporting drugs for profit.
Convicted Person
Charges: smuggling over 30kg of the drug into Terminal 2 last October 17 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Stevenson, of Waverly Road in Halifax, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison while Shears, of Kent Road in Bradford, was handed a three-year sentence, at a sitting of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court today.
Places mentioned
- Waverly Road
- Kent Road
- Dublin
- Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
Topics
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