One of the most "significant" drug dealers in the west and northwest of the country has been jailed for 11 years for directing the activities of one of the four organised crime gangs operating in Sligo.
Barry Young, 38, from Geldof Drive in Sligo, was at the top of the hierarchical structure of the criminal organisation and organised the delivery and supply of cannabis, cocaine and prescription drugs along with the associated threats, violence, intimidation and attacks on homes.
He also set up a car recovery business to launder cash and had access to seven accounts, including a bank account in Madrid, where the drugs money was deposited.
Young, a convicted drug dealer, pleaded guilty to a charge of directing the activities of a criminal gang which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
As a major drug dealer in the west and northwest, Young has connections with local, national and international criminal organisations.
He ran one of the four main drugs gangs in Sligo directing 20 members operating on a hierarchical structure.
He was arrested on a plane at Dublin Airport on his way to Spain in January last year and had been planning to live there permanently.
Gardaí carried out seven searches the same day and seized his and other gang members' phones.
Over 22,000 messages, videos, whatsapps and texts showed Young directing the gangs' drugs and money laundering activities on a local, national and international level.
The gang members reported to him through a chain of command and he directed, and would be informed about, the distribution and delivery of the drugs, the movements of cash and the enforcement of the debts owed.
The gang had links to a major Dublin-based organised crime group, which sent down enforcers when required.
The investigation directly linked over €500,000 worth of drugs, €55,000 in cash and at least another €60,000 in various bank and credit union accounts to Young.
He was also connected to drugs seizures in Ballina and Sligo, and an attack on a family home with children in Galway.
Messages on his phone refer to "going to fix someone the following day," a "gang of dubs and north would be going through his door" and a gun from the film Dirty Harry being "placed to his head and let 2 off".
As well as two AIB accounts in Sligo, two credit union accounts, a Revolut and a Western Union account, Young also had access to a bank account in Madrid, through which he laundered drugs money.
He set up a companies in Dublin and Spain. He was the sole director of BY Recovery, a motor business supposedly set up to recover, buy and sell cars, but one which had no yard or storage facility.
He also established STY Global and Constructions SL in Alicante in Spain, to offer house cleaning, maintenance and interior design services. The balance of funds in the business has been frozen.
He also received over €16,500 from the State in Covid pandemic payments.
Mr Justice Tony Hunt described Young as "a scourge" in the northwest.
He sentenced him to 12 years in prison with the final year suspended and told him he would have got 16 years had he contested the case.
The officer in charge of the investigation has described the conviction and sentencing of Young as very significant.
Chief Superintendent Aidan Glackin said Young was involved in drug dealing in the northwest for the last 20 years and that he directed and controlled a very large organised crime gang with substantial international links.
The gang, he said, has caused much harm, distress and destruction to families through their reckless nature and many of those families have suffered violence and intimidation, which is unacceptable.
The Chief Superintendent also said that over the past number of years gardaí have committed very substantial resources to tackle this crime gang and others and said they will continue this work to dismantle these gangs, including seizing their assets in Ireland and abroad.
