A 39-year-old haulage firm owner who organised the movement of drugs and cash between Europe, Ireland and the UK has been jailed for 14 years and eight months in Liverpool today.
Thomas Maher, who lived in Wiltshire Close in Warrington, but who is originally from Co Offaly, was involved in smuggling €1.5m worth of cocaine into Ireland and moving almost a €1m out of the country.
He was caught as part of a joint garda and National Crime Agency Operation during which officers accessed his encrypted phone messages.
Assistant Commissioner John O'Driscoll, the head of the garda's organised and serious crime unit, said the conviction was another successful example of the productive working relationship and the combined investigative powers of gardaí and the NCA.
Born and reared in Clara in Co Offaly, Maher bragged about being involved in organised crime for more than 20 years.
He paid himself less than minimum wage for tax purposes, but lived a luxurious lifestyle spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on cars, holidays and jewellery.
Encrochat messages revealed in April 2020 that Maher orchestrated the collection and delivery of at least 21kg of cocaine from locations in the Netherlands.
Associates reported back to Maher when the drugs were picked up, transported and arrived at their final destination in Ireland.
In one exchange of messages, Maher discussed the best ports to use with a co-conspirator.
"I'm at this game the last 20 odd years pal," he said. "I'm not an overnighter, so I know the way of plays."
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In another exchange, he joked how he was in a great position to take advantage once coronavirus lockdown restrictions were eased, saying: "Once we get this travel ban lifted … we be laughing mate. I'm telling u that's why I'm not stressing yet."
Maher was initially arrested as part of the investigation into the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants in a lorry in Purfleet, Essex in October 2019.
The tractor unit involved was at one point owned by Maher and was still registered in his wife's name even after it was sold.
Maher was released with no further action taken by Essex Police, but the NCA investigation revealed that despite him and his wife being on less than the minimum wage for tax purposes, they lived a luxurious lifestyle.
The couple owned cars worth more than £200,000, jewellery and watches worth hundreds of thousands, and had spent around £90,000 on holidays over three years.
A spokesman for the NCA said officers seized several vehicles, including a high-end Range Rover, Land Rover Discovery and an imported Corvette worth more than €80,000 following his arrest.
He spent thousands on holidays to Dubai, Mexico and New York and while in Dubai bought artwork including a map of the world made up of bullets, the spokesman said.
During a seven-month period, NCA officers watched as Maher was seen meeting criminal associates at hotels and in public spaces in the north-west of England to organise the trafficking of cocaine from Holland to the UK and Ireland.
Maher also helped to facilitate the movement of large sums of cash.
He arranged for €305,000 to be transported from Ireland to Holland on behalf of one of his associates, who he charged a commission for his involvement.
In May, gardaí in Drogheda seized a further €600,000 in transit and arrested three people. Maher had arranged for the movement of this cash.
The judge said Maher, owner of Thomas Maher Transport Ltd, provided "expertise" from owning a haulage business within the operation.
Sentencing him, Judge David Aubrey QC said: "You were an extremely important cog in the wheel of a sophisticated network of distribution of class A controlled drugs which had an international element.
"You were a trusted organiser, playing a part in where goods were to be exchanged, how parties would be able to identify each other when drugs were to be conveyed and how.
"Drugs cause desperation and misery, they are a cancer in our midst, but for those like you it matters not as long as financial profit is being achieved."
Assistant Commissioner O'Driscoll said today: "The investigative capacity of the Garda Síochána and the UK's National Crime Agency, working collaboratively, has again proved productive, a consequence of which is safer communities in the United Kingdom and Ireland, protected from those who engage in serious and organised crime.
"Those who exploit international borders in an attempt to avoid prosecution should be in no doubt but that the law enforcement authorities in the UK and Ireland are determined to exploit every opportunity to achieve a successful outcome to investigations in which they have a common interest."
NCA branch commander Martin Clarke said: "Maher moved in the highest criminal circles, acting as a logistics man for some of the UK, Ireland and Europe's most notorious organised crime groups who trusted him with their drugs and money.
"We believe the offences he has been convicted of represent just the tip of the iceberg in terms of his overall criminality.
"He bragged in EncroChat messages about being involved in organised crime for over 20 years, during which time it's highly likely he shipped tonnes of drugs and tens of millions of pounds around Europe.
"After a painstaking investigation, we have been able to bring him to justice. And that investigation has not stopped.
"We will use all the tools available to hit him where it hurts in the pocket to ensure he can't continue his luxury lifestyle when he's released."
Additional reporting PA
