The Court of Appeal has upheld a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence imposed on Neil Mannion for running a dark net drugs operation from a premises on Dublin’s South Circular Road.
Gardaí began investigating after receiving information linking a computer IP address to the sale and supply of controlled drugs online. Surveillance led officers to Bank House, 331 South Circular Road, Dublin 8, where a search uncovered drugs valued at about €143,000.
Most of the haul was LSD, worth €141,631. Gardaí also found small quantities of cannabis resin and amphetamine, together with weighing scales, packaging equipment, envelopes, postage labels and a vacuum packing machine.
Mannion admitted that he operated online under the name “Hulkster”. Customers placed orders through the dark net and he packaged and dispatched drugs to buyers in Ireland and numerous countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australia.
He cooperated with Gardaí after arrest, supplying passwords and explaining how the operation worked. The investigating Garda described him as unlike the usual offenders encountered by the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and accepted that Mannion had come to understand the seriousness of his actions.
Richard O’Connor, who was present during the search, was described by Gardaí as playing a very secondary role. His work involved putting LSD into envelopes, sealing them and posting them. He received a three-year sentence.
Mannion appealed partly on the basis that his six-and-a-half-year term was more than double O’Connor’s. He also relied on his lack of previous convictions, prior good character and rehabilitation efforts.
The Court of Appeal rejected both arguments. It held that Mannion was the organiser and “brains behind the operation”, while O’Connor acted on his instructions.
The judges described the case as commercial drug supply on an international scale and found no error in principle. The sentence appeal was dismissed.