A 52-year-old man caught with over €9 million worth of drugs and over €1 million in cash has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Gardaí said Andrew Pender was at the top tier of a Dublin drugs dealing network.
Pender, from Ely Green in Dublin, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to drugs trafficking and money laundering.
A car and van with hidden electronic storage compartments and a stolen Garda uniform were also recovered during the course of the Garda's Dublin Crime Response Team's investigation.
Pender was a major Dublin drug dealer who was in full control of a multi-million euro cocaine, cannabis, ketamine, ecstasy (MDMA) and money laundering network.
He ran a sophisticated operation, which included storing the drugs in a shipping container, moving them and large bundles of cash in concealed compartments in specially modified vehicles and establishing shell companies to conceal the movements of the drugs and cash.
He was targeted by An Garda Síochána's Dublin Crime Response Team set up to provide what gardaí say is an immediate and dynamic response to organised crime in the city, including drugs, burglary, money laundering, car theft, feud related activity and drug related intimidation.
Pender was targeted when gaps were identified in opportunities to tackle Dublin mid-level organised crime groups.
An intelligence-led operation was established focussing on Pender, who operated as independent drugs trafficker working to keep below the garda radar.
He was stopped in a 19 D registered Peugeot car on the Finglas Road in Dublin at 6.30pm on Friday 19 July 2024.
A small amount of cocaine and over €9,000 in cash was found hidden in his car. Keys were also found for the drugs storage unit.
In simultaneous follow up searches, another €8.9m worth of drugs and over €1.1m in cash were found in a shipping container and a box van in a yard at the Ward in Co Dublin. The money was packed in 16 bales, sealed in duct tape.
Pender was renting the land for €200 a month.
'Significant result' in Pender sentencing
Another €44,690 in cash was also found in two homes in Tallaght linked to Pender.
In all, gardaí recovered over €1.15m in cash as part of the investigation along with a stolen full garda uniform with PPE equipment, epaulettes and a garda stab vest.
Pender used the Peugeot car and the Mercedes Box Van with a sophisticated hidden false floor accessed electronically to store and move the drugs and cash.
The van had a false wall operated by a hydraulic arm, while the car had a false floor under the seats which were lifted using an electronic switch.
Both vehicles were falsely registered in other people's names.
Pender also set up shell companies in November 2021, including one in the name of Tech Recovery which had a website techrecovery.ie as fronts for his drugs and money laundering operation.
The livery for these companies was put on the truck to move the cash and drugs in Dublin and around the country but Judge Orla Crowe said today it was the livery for a company that did not operate.
Detective Inspector Ken Holohan of the Dublin Crime Response Team told the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that Pender told gardaí several "self-serving lies" when interviewed, including denying significant wrongdoing.
He told detectives that he had "found the key" to the shipping container which held the drugs, but they engaged a locksmith who provided an expert witness statement that proved the key Pender had was the original.
He initially replied not guilty when 12 of 14 charges were put to him but subsequently admitted his involvement in drug trafficking and money laundering.
Judge Crowe described it as a highly sophisticated operation.
Pender, she said, managed an entire cell, registered fake companies and arranged the false registration of the two cars.
"Chillingly," the judge said, gardaí found "an entire stolen garda uniform," and "he did not assist the investigation in any way".
"His involvement was highest possible level," she said, adding that "the cash was payment for the movement of drugs, there was no other person higher in the network".
Judge Crowe also said the court has to have cognisance of the effect of drugs on society and described it as "a very grave matter".
She sentenced Pender to 15 years in prison and refused to suspend any portion of the sentence.
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Significant sentence
Gardaí described the sentence imposed on Pender as significant.
Assistant Commissioner Paul Cleary said that Pender operated a sophisticated drug trafficking distribution network and was observed personally delivering large quantities of drugs to communities around Dublin, particularly in the north and west of the city.
The Assistant Commissioner said the case was a very good example of how the gardaí targets drug trafficking at all levels.
The National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau targets national and international traffickers, the local drugs units focus on local street dealers and drug gangs, but he said there was also another very important level, "Tier 2," which the Dublin Crime Response Team has the capacity to target.
Today he said, "was a very good example of how that has worked quite well".
"Every year we are seeing larger amounts of drugs and cash, and since the DCRT was set up over two years ago, we have seized over €48m in drugs and €14m in cash, so that gives an indication of what the mid-level groups are capable of," he said.
"They do have affiliation with larger groups, and we do believe Andrew Pender was affiliated with a group in north and west Dublin and those investigations are live and ongoing."
Mr Cleary also said it was "very sinister" that gardaí discovered a full garda uniform which had been stolen from a car in Dublin.
