Man convicted over €6.4m worth of heroin
Monday, 8 March 2010 16:50A Dublin drug dealer has been convicted of transporting €6.4m worth of heroin in his van.
36-year-old Michael Byrne of Old Tower, Clondalkin was watched by undercover gardai unloading the heroin from his van and hiding it in a park.
The jury at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court found him guilty after just over four hours of deliberation.
He will be sentenced next month.
Michael Byrne was the target of an operation run by the Garda National Drugs Unit.
He had pleaded not guilty to possession of 32kg of heroin for sale in Palmerstown Dublin on 15 January 2008 but during his trial several detectives gave evidence that they saw Byrne collect the heroin in his silver Volkswagon van, park the van and carry the drugs in two bags into a nearby park.
When gardaí moved in Byrne dropped the drugs, ran and threw his mobile phone into a stream.
Judge Frank O' Donnell said Byrne had given evidence in the witness box that 'flies in the face of all logic' and remanded him in custody for sentencing next month.
