Francis Cox jailed for six years over cannabis possession

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Francis Cox, 54, of Hazelmere, Naas, was jailed for six years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. He pleaded guilty to possession of 161.5kg of cannabis. The offence took place on the M50 motorway on 20 March 2024. The proceedings were reported on 15 January 2025.

The cannabis was valued at more than €3.2 million. Detective Garda Niall Cleary told the court that an operation was put in place and a van driven by Cox was stopped on the motorway. Boxes of suspected cannabis were found in the rear of the van.

After the search, Cox denied knowing what was in the van. He told gardaí he had been told to meet a man and did not know what was in it. He later told gardaí he had received €100 for driving the van.

Passing sentence, Judge Martin Nolan said he was satisfied Cox was a low-level operative whose function was to transport drugs. The judge said there was no evidence of wealth and noted that Cox had no previous convictions.