The owner of a chain of head shops has been jailed for two years and fined €100,000 for illegally importing Viagra-like products.
James Bellamy, 64, of Castle Court, Killiney Hill Road, Killiney, admitted selling the drugs between March 2008 and May 2010.
Documentation showed he imported 6,000 packages of the drugs, some of which were sold wholesale to other head shops.
His company, Harmony Products, was also fined €150,000 for not having a licence to sell the products.
The Irish Medicines Board carried out an investigation into the Myth and Magic head shop in Athlone.
It found Viagra-type drugs that had been purchased wholesale from Bellamy's company.
Officers then went to Bellamy's head shop, Nirvana on Capel Street, and found 17 large boxes containing individual packages of the drugs.
Bellamy admitted importing the drugs from China, but said he did not know he was doing anything illegal.
A year later, however, another of Bellamy's premises was searched and similar products were found, some containing lidocaine, which is used as a local aesthetic.
Bellamy is the director of several companies. The court heard Harmony Products amassed "substantial assets" over the years and has €1.33m in assets.
His Nirvana store was burned down in 2010 and the firemen found over €400,000 in cash in the basement, but defence counsel said there was no suggestion this money was ill-gotten.
Bellamy has three previous convictions for possession of pornographic videos in the 1990s.
