Louth farmer jailed for 10 years after staged delivery of €1.6m cannabis to his yard

By Francis Carroll, The Drogheda Independent

A Co. Louth farmer has been jailed for 10 years after the seizure of €1.6 million cannabis at his yard.

John Prendergast (54) was found guilty by a jury of three charges which stemmed from a staged delivery by Customs and gardaí of a pallet which had been intercepted at Dublin Port.

It bore a shipping label to “John P., Ballina Creations, c/o J. Prendergast Stores, Mill Park, Knockbridge” and included the defendant’s mobile phone number.

He denied possession of drugs for sale or supply with a value of €13,000 or more, possession of drugs for sale or supply and simple possession at his Mill Park, Knockbridge address on May 12, 2025.

The defendant told investigators that he was “squeaky clean” but last February a jury found him guilty of all charges.

The trial at Dundalk Circuit Court centred on the controlled delivery of the pallet of 18 boxes to the defendant’s Mill Park premises containing 181 vacuum packs of 81.2kgs of cannabis valued €1,624,900.

His legal team argued that he was “just a dupe” and questioned if he was the mastermind, why would his name, address, postcode and mobile number be on the consignment.

When it arrived at the yard at 12.10pm, an undercover garda detective approached Mr Prendergast on foot. He asked him if he was expecting a delivery to “Ballina Creations”, and he replied, “Yeah. One of the lads.”

The defendant got a forklift from a shed, unloaded the pallet and put it in the same shed.

Other gardaí then entered the premises with a search warrant, and he was arrested at 12.50pm and brought to Dundalk Garda Station.

In two interviews, he told investigators that he was expecting a delivery of 20 pallets of filters. He was dealing with a man called “Eddie” in that respect. He had no contact number for this man but “Eddie” had his.

He never got an email from them and when he saw just one pallet on the lorry, he thought something was not right. The lorry was dirty and there were two men in it as well.

He continued that he never saw cannabis before, bar on television. He had no idea what it was. He had nothing got to do with it.

It was put to him that it would be financially rewarding to accept the delivery.

“No, I’m not involved in that. I don’t even smoke. I imported nothing. I’m squeaky clean.”

After the jury delivered its verdict, sentencing was put back until June 5 and John Prenderfast remanded in custody. He addressed the court on that date before a further adjournment until June 16.

Judge Dara Hayes said he had received notes from Mr Prendergast, many not relevant to the matter before the court.

The defendant believed that not all information was before the jury and some had been “buried”, and that there was no evidence to the provenance of the package. He accepted that there was evidence to convict.

Judge Hayes remarked that any evidence of the origin of the package was not relevant.

The court had been told of 22 previous convictions - 11 for Traffic offences, one under Environmental legislation, three for Public Order and seven Revenue offences.

Mr Prendergast was principal carer for his mother and one of his brothers. There were references from family members and a letter from the defendant which set out tragedies in his life.

Judge Hayes said a very significant quantity of drugs was involved. They were brought into the country, intercepted and delivered to the defendant’s address by way of a controlled delivery which he accepted.

The judge spoke of the harm drug trafficking has on society and communities around the country.

A presumptive minimum sentence of 10 years was imposed on the Section 15 (a) charge along with concurrent sentences of nine years and four-and-a-half years on the other two charges.

Judge Hayes said that the 10-year sentence did not allow for any part suspension.